


Dirty Money

by kazenezumi123, Whatsinthebasement



Series: Dirty Money [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Angst, Casual Sex, Deception, Heavy Drinking, M/M, NaruSasu - Freeform, Prostitution, Revenge, Underground Activities, bottom! Sasuke, casinos and clubbing, tragic past
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-18
Updated: 2018-04-01
Packaged: 2018-12-16 19:22:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 31,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11835366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kazenezumi123/pseuds/kazenezumi123, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whatsinthebasement/pseuds/Whatsinthebasement
Summary: As a prostitute, Sasuke tends to spend his time fucking around. Upon meeting a hot blonde stranger at a casino, his life takes an unexpected turn as he comes to terms with this stranger, himself, and the past.





	1. Circle Game

It seemed like it was going to be another uneventful night.

Despite being in the center of the nightlife district and stationed in one of the most popular casinos, Sasuke couldn’t find a trace of a clue nor anyone worth his time. This was normally the case; having both a seemingly impossible mission and a very specific type seemed to put him at odds these days, but as it had been stressed to him all too often, sometimes Sasuke didn’t have the right to be picky.

Sasuke clicked his tongue in irritation as he moved through the crowds towards the back. The constant dinging of machines and the sound of overrated music made his head hurt. It was shocking that no fights had broken out tonight, there was usually someone who would get drunk and make a fool out of themselves, but the casino had been peaceful for days. No one suspicious and no one eye-catching.

Honestly, Sasuke didn’t know who exactly he was looking for. Even for a genius, that could make his job fairly difficult. Instead, he pushed it to the back burner and focused on his other job, which he wasn’t too fond of, but it had become a part of his life whether he wanted it or not. He also had other annoying things on his mind.

He was horny.

Unimaginably so, and to the point where it was too embarrassing to dwell on. Sasuke could feel the eyes on him as he walked around the casino; he knew he appealed to men and women alike, especially with the suit he was wearing tonight. Despite being so attractive, Sasuke knew he had a nasty attitude, and on top of that, he never wanted to be with anyone. He had worn out his hook up days and tried to keep up with what he had to do. Which was putting up with people he didn’t deem worth his time. Obviously.

He knew he had to go with someone tonight, but he was starting to dread what option he would have to take. It was starting to get late, and there was no sign of a potential partner in the godforsaken casino.

In the end, Sasuke decided to drink. Hoping the alcohol would help him lower his standards, he blew through three heavy cocktails and tried once more to find someone. He circled the slot machine area, passed the blackjack and roulette tables, and stopped at the poker corner.

No one.

Sasuke let out a heavy sigh, dragging his feet as he turned around to leave. One more night alone wouldn’t be that bad, as long as no one found out. He could get away with one more night…

 

Sasuke almost tripped when his eyes focused on someone he’d never seen before. He could’ve sworn the guy wasn’t there a few moments ago when he walked by, meaning he just walked up or appeared out of thin air.

Blonde hair and bright blue eyes that belonged to a handsome face were scrunched in concentration as he watched the roulette spin in front of him. He stood out like a beacon from the plain people around him, and he seemed oblivious to the number of curious eyes on him. Was he a foreigner? He had to be, with those features; women were already sliding their way to him, trying to get his attention. That was irrelevant, Sasuke knew what he had to do.

What he wanted to do.

Sasuke joined the roulette crowd, easily sliding into place next to the blonde thanks to his status simply associated with his appearance. Sasuke’s arrival officially attracted a majority of the other players’ attention, and Sasuke glanced over to see that the blonde was watching him in curiosity.

“I’ve never seen you here before.” Sasuke said smoothly, keeping his voice low and warm to reel him in. Even if the guy was straight, he still had a chance if he played his cards right.

“You must come here pretty frequently then.” The guys voice somehow managed to be the perfect balance of rough and soft, leaving Sasuke almost at a loss for words.

“My business requires it.”

The blonde gave him a small smile before he leaned back to extend his hand.

“You got me. It’s actually my first time here, so that’s why you haven’t seen me. I’m Naruto.”

Sasuke took his hand and gave him a firm shake.

“I’m Sasuke.”

“So Sasuke, since you’re an expert on this casino…how does one exactly win anything here?” Naruto’s smile widened to reveal a set of perfect white teeth. Sasuke had hit the jackpot.

“You watch others, and then you watch the patterns.” Sasuke gestured to the other players and raised an eyebrow. “Red has a higher chance of being called than green or black, despite having the same number of places. You learn that after days of paying attention.”

“Amazing. Do you play often?”

Sasuke shook his head. “I’ve never played. At least, not here.”

Naruto’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Really? And you’re here so often!”

Sasuke fought to keep his smile back. He had reeled him in, and it was only a matter of time until Sasuke got what he wanted.

“I’m a busy guy.” Sasuke lowered his voice to a purr. “Do you want a tour of the casino if it’s your first time?”

Naruto pushed away from the table and nodded. “That would be great!”

Sasuke began his ruse to get Naruto for the night.

 

He led him around the establishment, explaining each section and where the most wins tended to happen, all of which Sasuke had managed to pick up in less than a week. He explained the different games and the different characters he saw from time to time. It appeared Naruto wasn’t familiar with the area, but he wasn’t a foreigner.

“I get that a lot.” Naruto laughed as he scratched the back of his head. “Blonde hair isn’t too common here, right? I got it from my dad, who wasn’t born here, but my mom was. They both had blue eyes so I inherited that from them too…but people always think I’m lost because I’m not from here. In reality I’m just horrible with directions.”

Naruto seemed to be an easygoing guy, and on top of that, a little bit of an idiot. Sasuke found it kind of cute as well as irritating, but the guy had a nice face and from what Sasuke could see from the way his suit fit, Naruto seemed to be in good shape.

“I suggest you don’t hang around here past midnight though. Sometimes trouble comes in and the streets aren’t a good place to be then.” Sasuke furrowed his brow. “There’s a lot of crime around here. Money breeds it.”

He wasn’t exactly lying about the area being dangerous. However, midnight played no difference in the activity of the criminals on the street nor the overall business of the casino. That was something Naruto didn’t have to know.

“Oh shit! That’s soon!” Naruto checked his watch. “And it takes at least twenty minutes to get home…I didn’t know this area was that bad!”

Sasuke loved how gullible this guy was.

“Will you be alright going home? I’m leaving too, we can head back together.” Sasuke gave him a friendly smile. “But first, wanna have a quick drink?”

This led to him and Naruto sharing a couple cocktails at the counter, engaged in lively conversation until Naruto’s cheeks took a faint pink color and his laughter became heartier. His voice managed to get sexier when he was drunk, and Sasuke found himself leaning close to hear what came out of the blonde’s mouth. He found himself fantasizing, already, what it would feel like to have Naruto in his mouth; he believed Naruto was packing, judging from the slight bulge in his dress pants that set Sasuke on the edge of his seat in anticipation.

He was so close.

The two left the casino and hailed a cab without question, but it wasn’t until they pulled up to the hotel that Sasuke realized something.

“Wait I thought you lived in the area? Why are you staying at the hotel?” Sasuke felt dumb asking, but things were turning out too well for his sake.

“I actually live an hour away, I’m also kinda here on business so I got a hotel for the next few days…” Naruto wrinkled his nose, and another smile graced Sasuke’s presence. “I forgot to ask where you lived.”

Sasuke stared at the familiar hotel entrance.

“Room four-twenty-four.” Sasuke deadpanned.

Naruto whipped around to look him in the eyes.

“You’re shitting me! Room three-twenty-two!”

They paid the driver and walked through the lobby together. Sasuke couldn’t believe his luck tonight, and he had to use all his self-control to stop himself from latching on to Naruto in the elevator and fucking him into next week. With just the two of them in the space, Sasuke could smell the cologne on him and noticed how similar they were in stature and height, along with how fucking hot Naruto was in direct light. As they went up, Naruto cleared his throat.

“Hey, I know it’s past midnight and everything, but I work nights so this is pretty early for me…did you want to hang out for a little? We can watch TV or go down to the game room? I just want to change out of this damn suit.” Naruto sounded a little nervous when he spoke, but Sasuke couldn’t understand why. There wasn’t a chance in hell that he’d turn down an invitation like that, in fact, he had solved Sasuke’s final challenge in less than ten seconds.

“Yeah sure.” Sasuke drastically shortened his response for the sake of staying cool. “I don't mind.”

“Awesome.”

They got off on the fourth floor and Sasuke followed Naruto to his room. With a click, Naruto unlocked the door with his card key and let them in, revealing a room not too different from Sasuke’s. A large king sized bed, desk, flat screen TV, mini fridge, and connected bathroom that stood as their temporary homes for work.

Sasuke dropped onto the edge of Naruto’s bed and switched on the TV as calmly as he could.

He was so close.

Naruto shrugged out of his jacket and hung it up. Sasuke watched him loosen his tie and undo a few buttons in entrancement. He was so close…

Sasuke slid off his jacket and draped it on the back of the chair, exhaling as he tried to think of a plan. Would being direct work on Naruto?

“So…what exactly is it that you do for work? Especially if you have to work nights?” Sasuke stood up and approached him slowly.

Naruto paused, his tie in hand, and looked over his shoulder to give Sasuke an apologetic smile.

“That’s…classified information, sorry Sasuke.” Naruto put his tie away before he started fidgeting with his white shirt. “I could ask you the same question.”

“I don’t think you’d want to know.” Sasuke moved closer and kept his voice low and steady. “It doesn’t really matter what I do, does it?”

Naruto chuckled, and with his back turned he couldn’t see how close Sasuke had gotten.

“I guess it doesn’t. Even so…” he trailed off when he turned around to find Sasuke chest-to-chest with him. “I-I mean…”

Sasuke held his gaze a few seconds before running his finger down Naruto’s stomach. The guy didn’t back up right away, so that was a good sign.

Naruto’s face started to turn a deeper shade of red.

“What…what are you…?”

Sasuke smirked as he started popping open the rest of the buttons with a steady hand.

“My job is getting what I want, when I want it. What about you?” he gave Naruto a suggestive look and moved to undo his fly.

Naruto jumped back, waving his hands in what looked like panic.

“Whoa, whoa slow down! L-look I don’t know if I gave off the wrong impression or something, but I’m…I’m not into t-that kind of…I didn’t mean…” Naruto stumbled over his words, whether it was because he was drunk or flustered, Sasuke couldn’t tell. Sasuke didn’t really care; his attention was directed on Naruto’s muscular chest and stomach, which was now exposed by his open shirt.

Sasuke let the disappointment show on his face.

“You mean you aren’t interested in guys?”

“I’m not interested in that kind of hook up!” Naruto pushed his hair back and groaned. “I didn’t invite you over here to have sex. I honestly just wanted to hang out!”

Sasuke latched on to the fact that Naruto never said he wasn’t interested in men. That was something he could work with.

“I wasn’t going to charge you.”

“Charge me?” Naruto’s face contorted in confusion for a brief second before he took another step back and gasped. “Wait you’re a _prostitute_?”

Sasuke let out a singular laugh. “Obviously.”

Naruto shook his head.

“No, not _obviously_. I would’ve guessed mafia or business tycoon before I guessed a fucking prostitute!” Naruto threw his hands in the air. He seemed to run things through his head and calmed down in what Sasuke thought was record time. “Why weren’t you going to charge me?”

“Because you’re hot.” Sasuke answered honestly. He couldn’t see where this was going anymore, but he didn’t want to lose his chance if he still had it.

Naruto groaned. He took off his shirt and tossed it to the side before looking at Sasuke again.

“How much is a night?”

Sasuke’s eyes widened in authentic surprise.

“Depends. Ranges from four hundred to six thousand.”

Naruto cringed.

“Geez, you’re expensive.”

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

“What did you expect?”

“So do you like…have a pimp and everything?” Naruto crossed his arms over his broad chest and Sasuke forced his concentration to stay in one place.

“Technically, yes.”

Naruto narrowed his eyes.

“Do they get mad when you don’t get business?”

Sasuke shrugged. “Yeah, but that doesn’t matter.”

“I’m sure it does, but you probably get a lot of business.”

“Not really.” Sasuke sighed, returning to Naruto’s bed. He was getting ready to give up.

“No way. I’m sure people line up for an hour.” Naruto frowned when Sasuke didn’t respond. “I’ll pay the four hundred.”

Sasuke’s head snapped up fast enough to give him whiplash.

“You’ll what?”

“I’ll pay the four hundred. But we aren’t having sex. I was actually going to call room service.” Naruto disappeared briefly when he stepped into the closet, but quickly came back in a T-shirt and shorts. “You want anything?”

Sasuke was in shock. Underlying that shock was irritation. It wasn’t the money he cared about, what he wanted was the sex!

“Why would you pay that much money for nothing? That doesn’t make any sense.”

Naruto dropped onto the bed beside him.

“So you can say that you got business and won’t get in any trouble.” Naruto responded simply as he started flipping through channels. “It’s easy, right?”

“You’re crazy.” Sasuke replied.

“I don’t illegally sell my body for money.” Naruto shot back. “But in a way, I guess I kind of do, but in a more legitimate way.”

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

He had gotten this close and he couldn’t have him? Unbelievable!

Strangely enough, Naruto didn’t seem too disturbed about the situation. He sat beside Sasuke normally as if Sasuke hadn’t just made a move on him or declared that he wanted to have sex with him.

Okay, well he hadn’t declared it yet, but he thought that was implied.

“So you’re willing to pay that much money just to sit around with me, watch TV, and eat dinner?”

Naruto frowned, his eyes straying over to Sasuke as if that offended him.

“When you say it like that I sound really lonely, don’t I?” He shook his head. “Is it that hard to wrap your head around?”

Sasuke stood up and reached for his jacket.

“I don’t want to waste your time, my time, or your money, so yes it is.”

As Sasuke moved to leave, Naruto’s hand snapped up to grip his wrist, stopping Sasuke in his tracks.

“I can make it worth our time.” Naruto stared at their two hands rather than Sasuke’s face when he ran his thumb across the pale skin. “I’ll order steak and you can pick the movie?”

Sasuke stared back in mute shock.

Was this guy for real? He was willing to do this much for a stranger?

“You’re too nice for your own good. Don’t you have a girlfriend or something?” Sasuke took a few steps back towards Naruto, focusing on the strong hand holding him close.

Naruto shook his head.

“Don’t have time. Or, I mean…there are a lot of things going on so…no. Maybe I am too nice for my own good, but I believe in karma okay?” Naruto looked up, giving Sasuke a wide-eyed blue gaze that made Sasuke feel like the world had stopped spinning. “So will you stay?”

The offer was too good to pass up. Not only did he get free food and paid to do nothing, he could stare at this idiot’s face for another hour or so. He would be stupid to turn him down.

Sasuke stepped in between the TV and Naruto, close enough to invade his personal space.

“You might regret this ‘good deed’.”

Naruto shrugged. “So be it. Now sit, you’re making me nervous!”

Sasuke obeyed with a light chuckle, dropping onto the empty space beside Naruto without another word.

 

Strangely enough, spending time with Naruto wasn’t that hard to do. Normally Sasuke would pass time with sex before conversation, but time as he knew it flew by without him noticing. It wasn’t until the sun started to rise when the two realized how long they had been with each other.

“Oh shit it’s dawn already?” Naruto stared out the window in disbelief.

As Sasuke opened his mouth to speak, his phone began to buzz in his pocket. With a suppressed groan, Sasuke dug it out and glared at the screen, debating whether he should answer it or not.

He knew not to call Sasuke at this hour, especially when he could’ve been working.

“What do you want Itachi?” Sasuke growled into the phone.

“ _I just called for a progress report_.” His brother’s familiar voice filtered through the line, but it gave Sasuke more fear than comfort. “ _You haven’t been doing a good job at checking in_.”

“There’s nothing to report.” Sasuke replied simply. “As usual, nothing has changed. Goodbye.”

“ _Then make it change. Sasuke this has been dragging on for weeks and we don’t have that kind of time. Just like the rest of us, you need to do your job_.”

Sasuke scowled. “What the fuck do you think I’ve been doing all this time?”

Itachi’s voice was like ice. “ _Stop screwing around and give results. I can’t cover for your mistakes anymore baby brother_.”

“Don’t call me that.” Sasuke hissed back. “I’ll call you when something actually happens, until then leave me alone.”

“ _Would you rather he call you instead?_ ” His brother’s question made Sasuke freeze. He hated the way the simple idea of that person could plant such a deep-rooted fear in him, strong enough to make his stomach twist into a solid knot. Uchihas were not supposed to be afraid. Especially not of other people.

Yet Sasuke was terrified.

“No.” He grit out, dropping his eyes to the carpet. He ignored Naruto’s concerned gaze. “That won’t be necessary.”

“ _That’s good to hear. I’ll talk to you again later, take care_.”

“Yeah.”

Sasuke hung up and ran a hand through his hair, pushing his bangs out of his face. He tried to steel his expression back into its neutral poker face, but he knew it was already too late. Naruto had probably caught a glimpse of the raw emotion in Sasuke’s eyes when he spoke with his brother; it was never something Sasuke had been good at hiding.

“Is everything alright?” Naruto asked slowly.

“Yeah. I should probably go soon though.” Sasuke moved to pick up his jacket and Naruto held up a wad of cash with an unreadable expression.

“For the good time.” He said.

Sasuke stared at the cash before shaking his head and backing up.

“I’m not accepting that from you. We didn’t do anything and you bought me dinner, I may be a prostitute but I’m not a charity case.”

Naruto gestured for him to come closer with his hand.

“What?” Sasuke glared him down, slightly offended at the movement.

“Just come here.”

Sasuke came closer until he was standing directly in front of Naruto, who still sat perched on the edge of the bed. Naruto lightly reached up to pull Sasuke down by the collar of his shirt until their lips met. A warm tongue snuck into Sasuke’s mouth when the kiss deepened, and Sasuke found himself at a loss for words. Naturally, he wanted to get as much out of the kiss as he could, but he didn’t want to come off as desperate as he actually was.

Naruto pulled back with a sly smile.

“Okay, so how much does that cost?” Naruto shoved the cash into Sasuke’s pocket without waiting for an answer. “This is me doing a favor for a new friend.”

“We aren’t friends-”

“Shh. We’re friends.” Naruto seemed to be satisfied with himself, which just pissed Sasuke off even more. “Now go back to your room and do what you do, I have to shower.”

“Right.” Sasuke rolled his eyes and went to open the door before he paused. “And thanks.”

Naruto hesitated in the hallway, smile still in place.

“I get the feeling that you don’t say that very often.”

Sasuke turned away, letting the door close behind him, but not before Naruto heard him mutter under his breath.

“I sure as hell don’t.”

 

* * *

 

 

The rest of Sasuke’s week proved to be just as uneventful as the last, and he found himself struggling to get to Friday. It wasn’t like he actually had days off, but at least weekends were expected to be pointless days dedicated to people watching and an occasional client. He was tired, the sex was terrible, and his brother would not get off his ass. Sasuke didn’t like to taste the bitter end of failure, but there wasn’t anything he could do if no one of interest was coming to his post. If they put him somewhere else, maybe they would have a different result. In the end, Friday snuck up on him and he figured he could call it a day early; he returned to his room and changed into something more comfortable to lounge around in. He felt too lazy to shower, figuring he could just take one in the morning.

As he was about to roll into bed and channel surf on the TV, there was a light knock at his door. Sasuke froze, his instincts automatically switching to high alert. He knew realistically it was probably the hotel staff instead of anyone suspicious, but he still tiptoed to the door and peered through the peek hole before opening the door in confusion.

“It’s you.” Sasuke said plainly to the handsome blonde in front of him. Naruto looked as though he had gotten back from work; a crisp blue button-up that brought out the color in his eyes and black slacks. He was missing his suit jacket, but he held a bottle of champagne in his arms.

“Don’t tell me you forgot my name already…” Naruto let out a defeated sigh but it didn’t seem to faze him that badly. “Are you busy?”

Sasuke glanced over his shoulder, as if to insinuate someone else were inside with him.

“Depends on what you want.”

Naruto rolled his eyes before lifting up the bottle.

“My boss ordered this to my room, but he knows I don’t drink that much. I didn’t want to throw it away and wondered if you wanted to get drunk.”

“I’m not one to turn away free booze.” Sasuke stepped aside to let Naruto in. He quickly shut his door and locked it behind him, pausing at the doorway before joining Naruto in the room.

  
Naruto found two glasses, which Sasuke had never used but kept on the desk, and popped open the bottle without any problem. Sasuke doubted one bottle would be enough to get them both drunk, but it was worth a shot. 

“I’m surprised you even want to hang out with me.” Sasuke clinked his glass against Naruto’s and took a sip. “Considering the last time I was with you I made a move on you.”

“Nah you’re cool.” Naruto swished the liquid in his glass and frowned. “You haven’t been the only one. I can tell you’re a good guy though.”

  
How?

Sasuke didn’t bother asking. He tilted his head back and finished off his first glass before refilling it. Maybe if he drank fast enough he’d be able to get drunk.

“Like I said. Too nice for your own good.”

“I know I know.” Naruto stared down into his glass before taking another sip. The two fell into light conversation afterwards, glossing over surface topics without digging into anything personal. Which was just the way Sasuke liked it.

Fortunately, Sasuke could feel the alcohol kicking in.

He could feel the hotness in his cheeks, the way a smile came to his face quicker and more natural than it normally did, and things were starting to feel a bit more normal.

Naruto was still hot as shit, and Sasuke fought the urge to straddle him where he sat. Naruto didn’t seem that drunk yet, but he still had his cup left plus a little of the bottle, and Sasuke felt like he should slow down before he made a fool out of himself.

Sasuke bumped his knee against Naruto’s, whether it was on accident or on purpose he didn’t know, but he was relieved when Naruto playfully bumped his back.

“Do you enjoy doing what you do?” Naruto asked over his drink, an unreadable expression on his face.

Sasuke set his glass down, contemplating the question. “You mean my job?”

“It can be outside your job. Just…do you enjoy doing the things that you do? Does that make sense?”

“I think you’re drunk.” Sasuke smirked, but it quickly faded. “But no. I don’t.”

“Even in your leisure time?”

“I don’t have much of it, but no.” Sasuke shrugged. “Aren’t you the same?”

Naruto dropped his gaze.

“Yeah.” He finished his cup and set it beside Sasuke’s. “I want that to change though. I’m still young, I’m supposed to be at the height of my life right now.”

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. “Can you afford to do that?”

“Of course not! I’m twenty-three and I don’t know what I’m doing! Do you?”

Sasuke shook his head. So Naruto was a year younger than him? Interesting.

“We do what we have to survive.” Sasuke reached for the bottle, but Naruto stopped his hand half-way. In all reality, Sasuke had given up his chances at hooking up with Naruto, but seeing him this close with such an open expression on his face made his resolve crumble away. He had every intention of keeping his distance, perhaps preserving whatever relationship he had with Naruto without trespassing further on the man’s life.

But that all changed when Sasuke leaned forward and kissed him.

Naruto pulled him close, molding to the kiss with ease and running his fingers up the back of Sasuke’s neck. Spurred on, Sasuke swung himself around to sit on Naruto’s lap and deepened the kiss, moaning into the blonde’s mouth at the friction between them. He didn’t want to come off as desperate as he was, but it was hard when he was drowning in the attraction he felt towards Naruto. He wondered if Naruto felt it too; the man kissed along Sasuke’s neck, pulling down the collar of his shirt to suck at the sensitive skin at the base of his neck. Sasuke helped him by taking off his own shirt, and he quickly moved to unbutton Naruto’s. Both were breathing heavily as they kissed, and Sasuke found himself fumbling with Naruto’s clothes as if it were his first time.

Sasuke could feel the bulge underneath him, and he sucked in a sharp breath when it brushed against his groin. He ran his fingers through Naruto’s soft, blonde hair before pulling his neck closer to suck on the tan skin.

Naruto’s fingers travelled to Sasuke’s zipper, which he undid with a swift pull and tugged down the waist of Sasuke’s pants.

“Fuck, tell me you aren’t leading me on.” Sasuke groaned into Naruto’s ear as he stood up to kick out of his pants. Naruto joined him, unzipping his slacks and tossing them somewhere on the floor.

“I wouldn’t dare.” He purred back. Lightly grabbing Sasuke by the wrist, he pulled him back to the bed and pushed Sasuke onto his back. Once Naruto climbed on top of him Sasuke pulled Naruto close until they were chest to chest, erections rubbing together through their underwear.

Sasuke couldn’t believe how lucky he was. Not only was he getting exactly what he wanted, but Naruto was huge. He could feel the guy growing against him and Sasuke wasn’t going to let this moment go to waste. He shimmied out of his underwear and tugged down the waistband of Naruto’s boxers, allowing his erection to spring free against his stomach.

He couldn’t stop the whine before it left his lips.

The sounds Sasuke made seemed to spur Naruto on, and Sasuke almost forgot the most important part.

“Condoms and lube…” Sasuke moaned between kisses, “in the shelf to the left…”

Without looking, Naruto reached over to open the drawer and fished around for its contents. With his eyes closed, he could hear Naruto shut the drawer and open the bottle, followed by the cold liquid dripping on his skin.

His eyes snapped open when warm pressure encircled his dick, and he looked down in time to watch Naruto take him in deep enough to brush against the inside of his throat. Sasuke clenched his muscles to stop his premature ejaculation, but he couldn’t help but cry out when Naruto increased the suction. Burying his hands in Naruto’s hair, Sasuke gave in to every wave of pleasure Naruto sent coursing through his body, moaning and panting as he twisted his hands in the sheets and nearly begged for Naruto to let him finish. He could feel Naruto’s fingers moving inside of him, stretching him out in preparation, but Sasuke was getting impatient. He wanted more than this, and he had wanted it for what felt like forever.

He gave Naruto’s hair a strong tug in warning.

“Enough, just fuck me already!”

“Geez, so bossy…” Naruto ripped open the condom and put it on quickly before repositioning himself between Sasuke’s legs. He caught a whiff of Naruto’s cologne, a subtle scent that vaguely resembled sandalwood and natural musk that managed to override his senses in just a brief second. He felt Naruto thrust in, immediately filling him to the hilt, and he arched his back off the bed with a sharp cry as Naruto pulled back. Naruto moved in slow, drawn out movements to drive Sasuke crazy before speeding up in quick, but deep thrusts.

Through the hazy fog of his drunken mind and the pleasure flooding his senses, Sasuke noticed that Naruto was a very physical guy. Meaning, Naruto seemed to move based on touches and preferred to do so; his movements changed more on Sasuke’s physical reactions than vocal, which was fair since Sasuke knew he was being louder than he should. Unlike Sasuke’s clients, Naruto made sure he was feeling good, and would occasionally hug him close when he pushed in deep. Sasuke wasn’t sure what to make of it, and he was sure he was just over-analyzing things again.

Either way, Naruto knew what he was doing in bed, and that was all that mattered.

“Fuck, Naruto.” Sasuke panted against the side of Naruto’s neck.

Naruto met his gaze, his arctic blue eyes swimming with hunger and emotions Sasuke couldn’t recognize. He pressed his lips to Sasuke’s again and changed the rhythm, causing the headboard to slam against the wall with every movement.

“Think the neighbors will complain?” Naruto’s voice was low and husky, and every moan that escaped him sent fire coursing through Sasuke’s body.

“Probably.” His own laugh shocked him, and it seemed to surprise Naruto too. It was breathless and strained, but it was still an authentic laugh, which was something unusual for Sasuke. Naruto broke into a wide grin before slamming into Sasuke again.

He found himself moaning Naruto’s name near the end; it rolled off his tongue easily, and the effect it had on Naruto almost made it feel like it wasn’t embarrassing. He could feel when Naruto started to lose his rhythm, his breathing hitching as he came close to his climax, and Sasuke could feel the clenching in his muscles as he reached his limit. Pulling him close again, Naruto buried his face in the crook of Sasuke’s neck when he came hard, the sharp spasm that ran through his body sent Sasuke over the edge. He threw his head back and groaned as he came for the second time that night; he squeezed his thighs against Naruto as he held him against his chest and tried to catch his breath. He could feel the calming breaths against his skin where Naruto remained, immobilized in Sasuke’s grip.

Neither spoke for some time, and Sasuke realized that was because Naruto had fallen asleep. Sasuke found himself dozing off; whenever he blinked awake, an hour or two had gone by, and the room grew brighter as the sun came up. He didn’t notice when Naruto had rolled off him, but they remained tangled together in the sheets until the late afternoon without realizing it.

 

 

Sasuke woke up to Naruto playing with his hair. He didn’t have the energy to glare at him, but he did his best to pout.

“Damn, how much is my bill so far?” Naruto didn’t stop at Sasuke’s gaze. He twisted a dark lock between his fingers and kept his playful smile.

Sasuke closed his eyes again. “You’re nearing two grand, Naruto.”

“I’m sure you can give me a discount.”

“You didn’t take it when I gave it to you the first time. That offer ended.”

“Sasuke…” Naruto’s hand moved to his face, tracing lines across his cheekbones and jaw with his finger.

Sasuke didn’t say anything. He’d never had someone hang around after a night of fucking, simply because it wasn’t his job. He didn’t bother with anything outside of hookups in his leisure time either, but this…felt nice. He didn’t know what to do with it, but he figured it wouldn’t be bad to test the waters. He was surprised he had cuddled with the guy all night without being annoyed, but he had also been exhausted.

“I’m not going to charge you Naruto.” Sasuke sighed.

“That’s not what I was worried about.” Naruto chuckled. “Can I use your shower though? I’m sticky.”

“Go ahead.”

He felt the weight leave his side when Naruto stood up. He cracked his eye open to glance at the toned and tan body he had been with all night. His gaze traveled down Naruto’s smooth spine and across a perfect ass that threatened to stir the hormones Sasuke tried to hold down. The guy definitely worked out. He was perfect, and it was unbelievable.

“Do you want to shower together? Or is that too much?” Naruto turned to look at him, and caught Sasuke staring with intentions written across his face. “I know you want to.”

Sasuke didn’t bother denying it. He slowly threw off the sheets and followed Naruto into the spacious bathroom. As Naruto tweaked with the shower, Sasuke checked his disheveled appearance in the mirror and cringed. Not attractive. His hair always managed to fuck itself up at night, another reason why he didn’t spend the night places. If it weren’t for his face and body, he’d be a walking mess.

He tried to pay no mind to it as they both stepped in the shower. At first, the two focused slowly on washing each other, but when Naruto’s hands reached Sasuke’s ass, some switch was flipped. Before Sasuke knew it, he was bent over in the shower, moaning as Naruto fucked him against the wall. From this position, Naruto managed to find Sasuke’s sensitive spot and took advantage of it. Just when Sasuke’s body was about to give out, Naruto flipped him around and managed to lift him up against the wall with strength Sasuke didn’t know he had. He gladly wrapped his legs around Naruto’s waist and melted into the embrace, muffling his moans in the blonde’s shoulder as he came again. And again.

At one point, Sasuke was sure one of his orgasms sent everything into darkness for a brief second, but it happened so quickly he wasn’t sure.

After finishing, Naruto abruptly stopped and pressed his forehead against Sasuke’s.

“We need food.” He panted. “And water. Or we’re going to die.”

Sasuke agreed. He was sure they were both weak and light-headed at this point, considering they’d been fucking for the last ten hours.

“Room service?”

“Yeah…” Naruto slowly lowered Sasuke to the ground and took a quick rinse under the water. He left first, grabbing one of the towels from the rack and dropped heavily onto the toilet. Sasuke did his best to stay upright as he washed off and wrapped the towel around his body. They both returned to the bed and stared at the hotel menu with tired eyes.

“Just pick whatever.” Naruto fell back against the bed, reaching for his phone on the nightstand.

“It’s too late for breakfast.”

“Damn. What about lunch?”

Sasuke frowned. “It’s dinner time.”

“Shit.” Naruto muttered. “It was the champagne.”

As Naruto ordered their dinner, Sasuke picked at his towel as several thoughts crossed his mind. What the hell was this? Were he and Naruto going to have a fuck-buddy relationship? Not like Sasuke minded, in fact that was ideal for him. How long was this guy going to be in the area, and for that matter how long was Sasuke going to be? He didn’t know anything about Naruto and Naruto didn’t know anything about him, so they couldn’t exactly be called friends. Sasuke didn’t have friends. It was too much work, and far too dangerous.

He cast a wary glance at Naruto. The guy didn’t seem to have a bad bone in his body. He didn’t seem to be after anything either, in fact he had paid for a service he didn’t even use. Knowing what Sasuke was, he still treated him the same. It was strange.

“You don’t talk much Sasuke.” Naruto put down his phone and gave Sasuke his full attention. “Do guys like me annoy you?”

Sasuke frowned. “Kind of.”

“Figures. I get that a lot though.” Naruto drummed his fingers against his bare stomach.

“You keep the conversation going though. It’s easy for me.”

“So is that a good thing?”

Sasuke shrugged. “Who knows.”

“I was serious when I said I wanted to be friends. I don’t have many people in this town, so I’d like to have at least one. I think I kind of complicated that last night and today though…”

“Are friends not supposed to fuck?”

Naruto tilted his head back and laughed. It was loud and unexpected, but it was a satisfying sound.

“What kind of friends have you had Sasuke?” he wheezed.

Sasuke figured it would be best not to answer that. He looked out the window and tried to bury his thoughts as he usually did.

“I’ll be your friend. I don’t mind casual sex though.”

Naruto raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Yeah you’re good in bed, so it’s okay.”

“No. No…I meant you’ll be my friend?”

Sasuke rolled his eyes. “That’s what you care about?”

Naruto’s eyes lit up with excitement. Sasuke averted his gaze from his attractive counterpart just in time for a knock on the door.

“Got it.” Naruto got up, jumped into his boxer-briefs, and got the food in less than ten seconds. Sasuke watched his new hot piece of ass walk by without an ounce of shame. He figured it would be smart for him to put on underwear himself, so he followed Naruto’s example and returned to the bed to stare at their food.

Sasuke found himself more exhausted than hungry.

He didn’t know if the satisfaction made him want to pull away or not; deep down Sasuke wanted nothing more than to kick Naruto out now that they weren’t fucking anymore and talk again next weekend, but another part of him didn’t want Naruto to leave.

It was like the blonde offered a temporary feeling of safety in the chaos of Sasuke’s life. Like being with Naruto allowed him to escape for a few hours…and that was dangerous.

Sasuke knew he couldn’t depend on anybody. Not even his own blood.

“This is actually my last night at the hotel.” Naruto’s voice sliced through Sasuke’s inner monologue and left him staring in disbelief.

“…Where are you going now?”

Naruto sighed before taking a bite of his pizza.

“Who knows…probably not too far but it still sucks. I hate being on the road.”

Sasuke still didn’t know how long he had to stay cramped up in this hotel, waiting for something that seemed like it would never come. It looked like he was going back to square one.

He didn’t know what to say. The idea of Naruto leaving didn’t settle well with him, despite the fact that he had just met the guy.

Naruto handed over his phone, the screen open to the new contacts page.

“Think I’m worthy enough to have your number?” Naruto winked at him. Sasuke pretended not to see the huge chunk of tomato sauce Naruto dropped on his sheets.

Without a word, Sasuke typed his information into Naruto’s phone and handed it back.

“If I’m in town, we can get lunch.”

Sasuke scoffed. “What, like a date?”

Naruto nodded. “Exactly like a date.”

“Ugh. Naruto…” Sasuke began, about to shut him down completely on the notion that he did not do dates. Nor did he do physical affection. Or romantic affection. Hell, he never even used friendly affection. But Naruto wouldn’t even let him do it.

“Sasuke…” the blonde imitated him with a cocky smile. “I like it when you say my name.”

Sasuke pretended to gag, reaching for a slice of pizza to drown his embarrassment.

“Never again, idiot.”

“But I thought you said I was good in bed?” Naruto teased.

Sasuke silently chewed his pizza and glared at him. It took Naruto a while to stop laughing; he seemed to get a kick out of Sasuke’s humorless expression.

The two fell into comfortable silence and watched TV as they ate. Sasuke felt his phone buzz by his thigh with a new number on the screen.

He opened the message only to realize it was from Naruto. He glanced up to see the blonde watching him with an excited expression.

“Our first text.” Naruto mouthed.

“What are you, twelve?” Sasuke frowned. “This isn’t even a text. You just sent four shit emojis.”

“Still counts.”

As annoying as he was, Naruto somehow managed to always have a smile on his face. However, Sasuke could see that Naruto used his humor to cover up other things. Sometimes only the suffering people could see the pain of others, and that’s what Sasuke believed the case was with Naruto. He wasn’t an easy-going guy because he had an easy life. Something was off.

Sasuke replied to Naruto’s text with two knife emojis and a broken heart, smirking at the disappointed expression on Naruto’s face.

He supposed he could hang around and figure out exactly who this guy was. Being around him surely proved to be a benefit on Sasuke’s behalf. Maybe if he kept Naruto around, his life would be a little easier than it currently was.

Never in his life had Sasuke been so wrong.


	2. Overlay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trouble on multiple levels seems to be the new state for both Naruto and Sasuke. As conflict draws closer, will they choose to stand together or apart?

Sasuke could admit when he was in trouble.

He knew he was digging himself into a deep, inescapable hole that he’d never be able to, or want to, crawl back out of. Screwing himself over was not one of his most marketable traits, and he found it out of character for himself. It was childish and pathetic; it fed into the overwhelming feeling Sasuke had been running from his entire life.

That feeling was none other than loneliness.

Sasuke believed that loneliness made people strong. By being able to live on without depending on another person, by having the ability to throw everything away without consequences…that made him strong. Forming attachments got in the way of success and warped his morals, and if he was going to live this kind of lifestyle that would be a deadly mistake.

And yet…Sasuke was growing attached to Naruto.

Despite their hectic schedules, they still made time for each other a few hours every week for the sake of having company. Sasuke found himself looking forward to the nights they would meet, and he kicked himself for that dumb bubbling feeling he’d get when he saw Naruto’s smiling face.

_This is a mistake_.

Sasuke ignored his conscience and went out without a second thought. There were times when they didn’t even have sex; they’d just sit around and watch Netflix until the sun came up or eat cartons of Naruto’s shitty ice cream flavors. Naruto stood as that small, stable comfort Sasuke had been craving since he was a child. Being with him reminded Sasuke of being at home, surrounded by warmth and safety, but he could never understand how. Sasuke didn’t even feel comfortable standing next to his flesh and blood brother, so why was Naruto different?

Sasuke decided that it didn’t matter.

 

So, when he wasn’t with Naruto, he immersed himself in his work. His post had branched out to cover the casino and two new nightclubs around town. None of them were close enough for him to be recognized or suspected, and all attracted different types of crowds.

One nightclub Sasuke particularly despised was the gay bar off Main Street. Sure, it made his job easy when men were practically throwing themselves at him. Not only did he get roped into a threesome his first night on post (he made a shit-ton of money so he couldn’t complain), he couldn’t go two steps without getting hit on and he had at least four drinks bought for him. Sasuke hated the attention on him, and he would normally sneak to the back to avoid the onslaught of other horny men so he could actually do his job.

More policemen had started frequenting the streets at night, closer to the nightclubs and warehouses Sasuke went to. He couldn’t match any faces to the few undercover officers he knew of, but he kept low in case he happened to overlook something. It was unlikely the police were picking up on his group’s activities, but there was no way for him to know for sure.

Sasuke reported to Itachi and the others whenever he noticed something different, but he otherwise avoided his brother at all costs. Itachi had a post on the other side of the city and dealt with more violent situations than he, making the lack in contact fairly simple when Itachi wasn’t being an asshole.

Tonight, he wanted to take it easy. He allowed a few strangers to buy him drinks until the flashing lights started moving a little too fast. He drank until the idea of blowing a couple in the bathroom wasn’t completely revolting to him.

Sasuke drank until he could barely walk in a straight line.

He kept his eyes on his phone, punching out a rapid and typo-filled text message to Naruto as he navigated the club to the back door. As soon as he stepped out into the humid alley, he saw Naruto’s bright orange Camaro waiting for him. He could hear the faint purr from the engine as it sat idling, waiting for quite some time thanks to Sasuke’s slow response.

Sasuke had questioned Naruto on his car choice, mostly curious why he’d choose that God-awful color. When it came to company cars, apparently Naruto got to choose the color not the model; he wasn’t a sports car kind of guy, but he said he could make it work. Sasuke thought it was kind of sexy. At least, if the car had been black. Or any other color.

“Climb in darling!” Naruto cooed to Sasuke from the open window, earning him a sassy look and a trademark eye roll. “How was your night?”

Sasuke slammed the passenger door shut and fastened his seatbelt.

“Horrible. Now drive.”

“My night was great, thanks for asking!” Naruto sped out of the alley and onto the street with an eye roll of his own. “Did something particular happen?”

“….No.” Sasuke watched the city lights blend together as Naruto drove towards the highway. “Same old same old.”

“Well, tonight we’re escaping from that.”

Sasuke turned in time to catch Naruto’s playful smile and raised an eyebrow.

“Escaping where?”

“Secret.” Naruto sang before cranking up the radio.

Sasuke fell silent as they turned onto the highway and made their way out of the city, every passing sign overhead flew past before Sasuke could read it. He didn’t know if Naruto was just driving really fast or if he was too drunk to process the words. It could have easily been both.

 

After an hour’s drive, they followed a little road that ran uphill towards the mountains and parked in a small lot overlooking the entire town.

“Beautiful, right?” Naruto turned off the lights and lowered the music to a near whisper before giving Sasuke his full attention. “My godfather brought me up here in the mountains all the time as a kid and we found this place.”

In complete awe, Sasuke took in the sight in front of him with wide eyes. He had never seen the city from so far away, and he never imagined it to look like this.

Thousands of little lights and buildings formed the outline of the city Sasuke was all but born and raised in, and as terrible as it was on the inside, the outside looked like art.

“It’s amazing.”

“I come out here sometimes just to clear my head. I wanted to share it with you, just so you can know it exists.” Naruto unbuckled his seatbelt and cut the engine, leaving them in complete silence.

Sasuke unbuckled his seatbelt and leaned across the gearshift to run his fingers across the collar of Naruto’s shirt, pulling him closer.

“Are you sure you didn’t drive me out here because it’s completely secluded and perfect for car sex?”

Naruto smiled. “Don’t put words in my mouth Sasuke…I’m a romantic, you know…”

Sasuke didn’t wait to hear the rest. He crushed their lips together and slipped his tongue in Naruto’s mouth, moaning as Naruto met him halfway. They kissed for a few minutes before moving to the backseat, kicking off their pants on the way. Sasuke buried his hands in Naruto’s hair as he planted kisses down Sasuke’s stomach, slowly making his way to the waistband of Sasuke’s boxer-briefs.

“Naruto…” Sasuke moaned as he lifted his hips, desperate for contact. He pulled down his underwear on his own, and Naruto kissed along his length before fully removing his underwear and tossing it to the side.

“You smell like tequila, Sasuke.” Naruto crawled between Sasuke’s legs and wrinkled his nose when they were face to face. “How much have you been drinking?”

Sasuke let his head flop back against the leather seats a little too hard.

“I’m not drunk Naruto, come on.” He lied.

“Are you sure? You get crazy when you’re drunk- OW!” Naruto winced when Sasuke yanked at the back of his head. “Would you quit with the hair pulling?!”

“Start moving, you’re killing the mood.”

“I think you’d be hard no matter what I do– Ow! Okay, OKAY.” Naruto pulled Sasuke back into a deep kiss as he pushed in with a small thrust. Sasuke arched his back for leverage as Naruto started moving, pounding into him with that strong, steady force he’d been craving all week. He spread his legs wider, moaning as Naruto fucked him with enough force to rock the car.

“Harder.” He begged, and Naruto obliged. Sasuke had to clench his teeth as each thrust sent shockwaves through his body, slamming into his hips in a way that would probably hurt him if he weren’t as drunk as he was. His vocal displays of affection could probably be heard by any passing car on the road, but luckily it seemed to fall on deaf ears.

Naruto kept Sasuke close, and he didn’t complain when Sasuke raked his nails across his bare back, leaving long red lines across his tan skin; he also never failed to make Sasuke come more than once in a night together. Sasuke tried to muffle his groan in Naruto’s shoulder, but ended up biting into it on impulse, forcing a shuddering groan from his blonde counterpart. After Naruto came, he lifted himself up and opened the car door, allowing the cool air in and tossed out the condom.

The small backseat of the Camaro didn’t prove to be the most ideal place for two grown men to have sex, but it served its purpose when it was needed. Sasuke appreciated the soft seats underneath his back, but he knew he was going to have a bruise where his head hit the door.

Naruto gave him space afterwards, leaving the car to put his clothes back on and breathe fresh air; he had started to notice that Sasuke wasn’t one to cuddle after sex, and that one night they spent together would be a rare occasion. Sasuke didn’t mind the company, but the close contact had to be brief or else he’d get uncomfortable. Naruto understood, or at least he said he did, and didn’t question Sasuke on it further. He moved to the hood of the car and leaned against it, eyes trained on the city below.

Sasuke slowly sat up after pulling on his underwear. He was starting to regret drinking heavily, since things were starting to spin after being in one position for so long. As he situated himself back in the passenger seat he tried to will away the dizzy feeling creeping up on him; he could feel himself moving from fun-drunk to nauseous-drunk, and there was nothing Sasuke hated more than throwing up.

He sat halfway out of the car, breathing in the night air with deep gulps he hoped would dispel the sudden queasy feeling in his stomach.

 

Naruto kept his eyes and attention on the city lights until he heard Sasuke start puking. He turned in time to see Sasuke lean out of the car and throw up a night’s worth of drinks onto the pavement.

As much as he was avoiding it, Sasuke knew it was better to empty his stomach before he got alcohol poisoning, which had happened more times than he cared to admit. He felt Naruto’s hand on his back; he had gotten back into the driver’s seat and leaned across to make sure Sasuke didn’t fall out of the car.

After a few minutes of puking and dry-heaving, Sasuke leaned back into the car and closed his eyes.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Naruto asked warily.

“’M fine.”

“You don’t look fine.”

Sasuke let out a huff. “I’m fine, Naruto.”

Naruto fell silent for a few seconds, and out of curiosity Sasuke opened his eyes to see his downtrodden expression.

“What?” Sasuke questioned.

“Why do you drink so heavily when you said you don’t like getting drunk?”

Sasuke stared back in growing annoyance.

“Why don’t you ever mind your own business?”

Naruto frowned. “Because I worry about you?”

“Well you shouldn’t. It’s a waste of your time.”

“That’s bullshit Sasuke.” Naruto hardened his expression to the point where he almost looked angry. “You know it is.”

Sasuke turned away to stare out the open door. He purposefully avoided looking at his vomit and tried to ignore the unmistakable smell of booze in the air.

He knew it was a bad idea to get this drunk, but it just happened. It wasn’t like he went out of his way to do it.

“I drink because I hate my life.” Sasuke blurted out. He blamed it on his binge drinking, clearly alcohol made him talk more than he should. “I hate my life more than I hate drinking.”

“Do you drink to forget?”

“Obviously.” Sasuke muttered.

He heard Naruto scoot closer, at least as close at their seats would allow him to, but he didn’t dare turn around.

“How did you get into prostitution Sasuke? I’m sure you didn’t choose that path for yourself.”

That was a fair question. Sasuke asked himself the same thing from time to time.

“Back when my parents died, my brother and I did whatever it took to survive. We used what we had.” Despite being children at the time of their parent’s death, the two were intelligent for their age. They didn’t start selling their bodies on the side until they were at least eighteen. “We had nothing else, so…"

“What…happened to your parents?”

“Murdered. My brother and I came home to them slaughtered in the living room.” Sasuke was sick of reliving the same nightmare in his dreams. Coming home from the library hand-in-hand with his older brother only to slip on the blood of his dead parents.

He remembered screaming.

He remembered going into shock until his brother had to slap him awake so they could run and get help.

Those were memories Sasuke would pay to forget.

“The feeling of everything being snatched from you…it’s torture. We don’t have parents to tell us right from wrong anymore so we go our own ways, completely alone.”

Naruto shuffled behind him.

“I…can actually understand that.”

Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

“How could you possibly understand that?”

“My parents were killed when I was two, and I’ve been passed around ever since. Officially raised by my godfather, though. I never understood why they were killed or why I always had to be alone, everything I did was to keep myself alive.”

Sasuke turned to meet Naruto’s gaze.

“You’re lucky you didn’t get to know them before they were taken away from you.”

Naruto hardened his gaze. “I wouldn’t call that lucky, Sasuke.”

“It’s different, but it still sucks.” Sasuke fell back against his seat and sighed. “Good to know we’re both fucked up kids.”

“Yeah…” Naruto slowly turned away to start the car up. “Ready to go back?”

Sasuke gave him a stiff nod before shutting the car door. They pulled out of the lot and made their way back towards the city with a new, heavy feeling floating between them the entire ride home.

 

* * *

  

A few days went by without Sasuke hearing from Naruto again.

That wasn’t unusual; the two tended to be very busy during the week and reconnected on the weekends, but time seemed to be dragging on and Sasuke noticed he was a little distracted.

It took him three days to realize that he was being followed.

He was lucky he hadn’t been killed by then, and the worst part was failing to understand why, and how, someone was tailing him of all people. He pretended not to see the dark blue sedan parked across the street when he got out after a long night, or when it was conveniently stopped at a light before he crossed the street. The license plate changed every time and the windows were too dark for him to see inside. All he could do was forward the information and wait for someone to make the first move.

He wondered who it was, and if it was the same person every night; how much did they know about Sasuke, about the organization itself? He also had to be careful not to lead the car near anything important, especially headquarters and his hotel.

Not only did he notice the car following him, but the number of familiar faces in the casino rose in record time within the week. The same men and women arrived at different times, sat in different places, and left separately; the average person wouldn’t notice something like this considering the size of the casino, but Sasuke wasn’t an average person. His eyes were never wrong, and he knew a familiar face when he saw it, and that could only mean one thing.

The government was on to them.

It couldn’t be just Sasuke; he was sure they were after everyone, including his brother Itachi. Maybe the police were sniffing out new drug rings, or feeling a little paranoid about the underground gambling nearby…either way they were showing more interest in their illicit affairs than they had a few weeks ago.

He could feel the small, annoying prick of paranoia and anger as he wrote out his weekly report; it was strong enough for him to text Naruto to inform him that meeting in public wasn’t a good idea anymore, and that they should be more discreet. It didn’t feel like a huge problem, but Sasuke preferred to keep it safe. He also didn’t want the guilt that would come along with Naruto getting roped up in something he had no business in.

Thus, Sasuke set the rules for how they would stay in contact. They would only meet at a hotel or somewhere very discreet like the back alley of one of the clubs Sasuke worked at. Other than that, no more dinner dates, no more leisure drives, and no more bars together. Even though Sasuke had started getting used to going out with Naruto from time to time, he figured this would be the best, and safest, route to follow for the time being. He used his shady background and brother as an excuse, which wasn’t entirely a lie, and it stopped Naruto from asking questions.

On Friday, Naruto texted him to cancel their meeting since something “came up”. To be fair, Sasuke had intended to do the same once Itachi dropped a workload on him as if he wanted to ruin Sasuke’s weekend. Sasuke couldn’t exactly be mad about the cancellation, but he wanted to get things over with and fuck away his built-up stress. He also hadn’t seen Naruto since that night, and it felt like longer than a week since they’d last seen each other.

Sasuke frowned as the thought crossed his mind.

He kicked a lone rock down the sidewalk as he walked through town, specifically one of the worst towns in the area, known for its drug dens and unsolved murder cases. Any sane person would fear walking through the area; only drug dealers, mafia, and underground workers themselves (Sasuke included) could walk through without a worry. He was here on business, just to drop off a package entrusted to him, for the sake of the organization. He was here on important, professional matters that required his full attention…

So why did his thoughts keep straying back to Naruto?

Maybe he’d be available later in the night? It wasn’t like they needed a long time to see each other.

It shouldn’t matter. That dumbass should be the farthest thing from his mind. He should be watching the shadowy characters in the alleys or the heavy cigarette smoke floating out from the run-down apartment complexes.

 

If he had been watching what he was doing, he wouldn’t have run into a man on the street.

“Sorry.” The stranger uttered, and when he turned briefly to apologize, both he and Sasuke froze.

“…Naruto?” Sasuke couldn’t hold back the disbelief in his voice when he met Naruto’s crystal blue gaze. He wore a burnt orange hoodie and jeans; completely different from the work outfits he was used to seeing Naruto in, but shockingly casual.

“Sasuke?” Naruto wore a matching look of surprise on his face, eyebrows shooting towards his hairline. “What are you doing here?”

“No, that’s my question.” Sasuke narrowed his eyes. “What the hell are you doing in one of the most dangerous places in town?”

He watched Naruto’s gaze flick towards the street before going back to his face.

“Ahh…” Naruto frowned and shifted his weight as if he were uncomfortable. “I cancelled on us today because I’m here to help a friend. I’ve been calling for a while, but they aren’t answering their phone...”

“You have a friend that lives here?” Sasuke repeated, making sure Naruto heard the disbelief in his voice.

“it’s a long story, but yes. I’m on my way there now, so please take care of yourself okay? I’ll text you later.” Naruto gave Sasuke a light pat on the shoulder before crossing the street without a second glance.

Sasuke watched him go, swallowing the dozens of questions on the tip of his tongue as if they were never there.

There was no way that was normal.

Sasuke wasn’t an idiot. And he certainly didn’t like being lied to.

He waited a few moments before following Naruto, sticking to the shadows to hide if the blonde ever turned around. Surprisingly, Naruto never cast a gaze over his shoulder to see if he was being followed; he continued down the dark street before promptly turning into an old apartment building as innocent as he could be.

Sasuke hesitated at the foot of the alley, considering the odds that maybe Naruto was telling the truth. Realistically, this was as far as he could go. If he entered that building, there was no doubt he’d be caught. So he backed out of the street and made his way back to the road, passing by a small group of drunk men near the twenty-four-hour convenience store.

“Hey Uchiha Hot Cakes!” One of them called out and his friends snickered. “How much for a good time tonight?”

“Why bother when you can fuck yourself for free?” Sasuke snapped back without a second look. He hated coming into this neighborhood for good reasons.

 

He approached the door to his destination, and he did a quick sweep to make sure he wasn’t being followed either on foot or by car. Once he called it clear, he stepped into the old building and locked the door behind him. It was almost impossible to avoid choking on the smoke wafting through the hallways; even an open window wouldn’t change the amount of smoke filling the air, considering it wasn’t even cigarette smoke, but something stronger. 

A small rumble ran through the floor, guiding Sasuke’s path to the backroom. He was greeted with two gazes; one amused and one unreadable.

“Sasuke…where have you been, hm? I got bored waitin’.” The amused, blue gaze locked on him before a wicked smile made its appearance.

“Deidara…” Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the blonde as he walked closer. “You should stop blowing shit up before you destroy the building.”

“As I’ve been saying.” Sasuke glanced over at Tobi, the other man in the room known as Deidara’s partner in crime. Thanks to the mask covering his face, there was no way for Sasuke to know who he really was, and judging by the way his personality flipped like a switch, Sasuke wanted nothing to do with him.

Deidara held up a hand. “Shut it, did you bring the goods, hm?”

Sasuke wordlessly handed over the thick envelope and stepped away.

Deidara weighed it in his hands before bringing it up to his nose. “Hm, this is good shit…you didn’t knock it against anything on your way here, did you?”

Sasuke frowned. “No, I’m not an idiot.”

“Good because your ass would’ve been blown to bits!” The blonde let out an ugly cackle and turned away, gesturing for Tobi to come over. “Oi, idiot come help me with this, hm? We got work to do.”

Taking that as his cue to leave, Sasuke turned on his heels and made his way out of the building as quickly as he could. He had no desire to know what was in that package, and the last thing he wanted to do was share a room with Deidara and Tobi for longer than necessary. Instead, he hightailed his way out of the neighborhood and back to his hotel, secretly hoping a certain someone would text him.

 

* * *

 

 

It took Sasuke three more days, five beers, and an hour-long shower before he picked up his phone and called Naruto himself.

He kept the towel loose around his waist and pushed his hair back as he listened to the phone ring on the other line, wondering if maybe this was his sign that he was being too clingy. He considered hanging up on the second ring, wondering why the hell he was even doing this. Why was he calling Naruto again?

“Sasuke?” he jumped at the sound of Naruto’s voice on the other line, which caused his thoughts to break apart and scatter into the wind. “What’s wrong? You never call me. Like, _never_.”

“Uh…” Sasuke mentally kicked himself at his ridiculous response. Truthfully, he didn’t know what to say. He didn’t expect Naruto to even pick up. Something had to be wrong with him, because Naruto was completely right. Sasuke didn’t like to initiate. That…wasn’t him, right?

“Sasuke? Seriously is everything okay? Do you need help?”

Sasuke bit his lip as he messed with his towel. How was Naruto asking all the right questions? Sasuke didn’t even bother asking himself anymore.

Naruto’s voice grew panicked, and he nearly shouted into the phone.

“Sasuke! Seriously, you’re scaring me! Are you okay?”

“I’m fine idiot.” Sasuke grit out once he finally found his voice. “Where are you?”

He could practically hear Naruto calm down on the other line.

 “…Depends, why?”

Sasuke rolled his eyes at Naruto’s impersonation of him. If he thought he was being cool, he was sorely mistaken.

“Funny. I wanted you to come over.”

Naruto’s soft laughter filtered through the line, successfully twisting Sasuke’s stomach in a solid knot.

“Hang on.” Naruto said before the sound of shuffling took over. Sasuke could pick up another muffled voice aside from Naruto’s, more shuffling, and something that sounded like a car door closing. After a few more seconds of silence, Naruto’s voice returned. “Now, as amazing as it sounds to snuggle up against your sexy ass for the rest of the night, I’m afraid that I’m a bit preoccupied at the moment. Can I take a raincheck?”

“You’re disgusting.” Sasuke sighed, only slightly meaning it.

“Do you know how often you hurt my feelings?”

“You really can’t make it?” He made sure Naruto heard the disappointed tone in his voice. There wasn’t a chance in hell he’d say that he needed him, nor did he plan on begging. He had other methods.

“I’m about three towns away from you, and I’m also stuck with a shit ton of work, so yes babe I really can’t make it, I’m sorry.”

Sasuke wrinkled his nose.

“Don’t call me babe.”

“Aw, are you mad, babe? What do you want me to do when you call out of the blue like this?”

Naruto’s voice, which normally succeeded in pissing him off, seemed to be having an opposite effect tonight. Sasuke wondered if it was the beer, or the hot shower that contributed to it; he didn’t want to think that it came from his loneliness and boredom.

“Actually…” Sasuke changed the tone of his voice, lowering it to a soft purr as he abandoned his towel. “I wanted you to drop everything and come here.”

There was a brief pause as Naruto registered the switch in Sasuke’s tone.

“Oh yeah? And what if I did just that?” he replied, playing along.

“You want details?” Sasuke teased.

“You know I love details…like what you’re doing, what you’re wearing…and what you want.”

Sasuke felt a small smile tug at his lips as he debated whether he really wanted to do this. He usually hated phone sex; in fact, he had only done it once or twice before, but what the hell was he supposed to do in this situation?

“I’m standing in my hotel room, talking to you. I’m not wearing anything in case you couldn’t tell.”

“You’re naked?” Naruto gasped. “That’s dirty Sasuke. You’re naked and thinking about me, that can only mean…”

“That I want you here and now.” Sasuke finished. “I want you to come here, pin me down, and fuck me until tomorrow morning.”

There was a slight rumble on the other line.

“I’ll tell you what,” Naruto said softly, “you can pretend that I’m there with you right now, but you have to pay attention to my voice okay?”

_How could I not?_

Sasuke bit back those words and nodded before realizing Naruto couldn’t see him.

“I guess that could work…”

Naruto’s voice dipped dangerously low, sending a shiver down Sasuke’s spine as he listened.

“Since you’re already naked, you’ve skipped a few steps already…but I want you to put me speaker okay? Just keep the volume low.”

“Okay.” Sasuke obeyed, setting the phone on the TV stand before stepping back. “Now what?”

“Sit on the bed.”

Sasuke dropped onto the comforter, waiting for the next set of instructions.

“Now lie all the way back and close your eyes.”

“This isn’t how sex works, Naruto.” Sasuke groaned, but followed his orders.

“Shut up. Now reach down and give yourself a few good strokes while you listen to my voice, okay? We both know how bad you are at masturbating.”

Sasuke pretended to ignore the jab as he reached between his legs.

“Are you hard?”

Sasuke squirmed under his own grip as he tried to figure out his feelings. Was he seriously going to do this?

“Yeah…”

“Already? You miss me that much?” Naruto chuckled, filling the room with his voice. Sasuke let out a low breath as he ran his hand up and down his length, trying to imagine that it wasn’t his hand, but Naruto’s instead.

“Well, I miss you a lot. I’m sorry I’ve been working so much…but next time I see you I’m going to make it up to you.” With his eyes closed, it wasn’t hard to imagine Naruto lying beside him, running his mouth as he normally did. “I’ll cook you an amazing breakfast, pull you into the kitchen…”

Sasuke cracked open an eye, unsure where Naruto was going with this.

“I’d bend you over the counter and pull down those booty shorts you don’t think I know about…”

“It’s not like I was keeping them a secret…” Sasuke didn’t expect his voice to sound so strained, nor did he expect his body to ache so much for something he couldn’t have.

“I’d spend a few moments just staring at your perfect ass before I lean in…” Naruto trailed off, and Sasuke frowned at the anticipation. “I’d bury myself to the hilt just to hear you scream my name, and pound you into the counter until you forget your own.”

“And then what?” Sasuke groaned, running his hand over the tip of his dick.

“By this time the entire neighborhood knows we’re having sex. I left the windows open.”

“Ugh Naruto you suck at this!”

Naruto sounded amused. “It sounds like you’re getting off on it though. You just love it when I bend you over and rail into you until you can’t breathe. You love it when I pinch the inside of your thighs with my teeth when I go down on you...”

Sasuke hissed when he pinched the exact spot Naruto was talking about.

“Do you want me to come over?”

“Yes.”

“Do you really want me, Sasuke?”

Sasuke tightened his grip and groaned in annoyance when his hips bucked. “Yes, Naruto I do.”

“You have to say it.”

“I want you.”

“You want me to what?” Naruto pushed.

If it weren’t for the building ache between his legs, there was no way Sasuke would even bother with this half-assed act, but he was desperate.

“I…want you to come here, right now…and I want you to fuck me!” Sasuke grit out as he sped up the pace.

Naruto’s breathing filled the line for a few seconds.

“You’re really cute, Sasuke. Spread your legs a little wider and use two fingers, okay? I want to get as deep as I can…”

“Ah…” Sasuke arched his back at the sensation when he pushed in knuckle-deep. Even the sheer thought of Naruto’s fingers inside him left precum leaking down his shaft. The idea of Naruto pushing in hilt deep with him bent over the counter; the sound of skin slapping skin as he pounded him into next week, _God that’s what he wanted…_

“Keep going Sasuke.” Naruto urged.

Sasuke didn’t even register what Naruto had said. He latched to the sound of his voice as he moved, and even though Naruto wasn’t there he could’ve sworn he could _feel_ him there…

Sasuke came with a lewd moan, leaving a mess on his lower stomach and a strangely satisfied feeling in his gut.

“God that was hot.” Naruto said after a little while. “Even I came…”

“You owe me.” Was all Sasuke replied with. “Next time I see you.”

“Don’t tell me you’re charging me for phone sex, you’re so stingy.”

“Fuck you.” Sasuke shot back. He sat up and grabbed his phone before returning to lie on the bed.

“I’M TRYING!”

“Thanks for the good time.” Sasuke murmured before hanging up, eager to get away from his embarrassment. He stared at the ceiling for a good hour before he got up to take his second shower and hopefully wash off the shame that was starting to settle in his mind.

 

Or so he wished.

Even the hot spray of water couldn’t erase the dread creeping through his bloodstream.

What…the fuck happened?

Sasuke buried his face in his hands as he replayed the words in his head. Not only did he end up begging for Naruto, he came just by listening to his voice?

“Seriously…?” Sasuke groaned, smacking his head against the marble wall. He had finally hit his lowest point; there was no way he’d be able to live this one down. Naruto was probably recording the entire call, planning to use it for blackmail later.

Sasuke stepped out of the shower and returned to the room with a grimace. He caught a glimpse of his phone lighting up with an incoming call, the contact unknown.

He picked up as quickly as he could.

“Uchiha.”

“ _Urgent meeting now. Report to B-A.”_ a familiar phone responded in its usual, robotic tone.

“On my way.” Sasuke hung up and began his search for a quick outfit. He didn’t want to read too much into the call, despite the fact that there hadn’t been an emergency meeting in over three years. He had no doubt that it had something to do with the current movements of the government.

A spark of anticipation brought a small smile to Sasuke’s face at the thought of finally making his move. After waiting all this time…

The only desire he had that was strong enough to overpower everything else; strong enough to cover the mixed emotions Sasuke had for Naruto, and for himself. It was born from the darkest moments in Sasuke’s life in hopes that one day he could be free from his personal burden.

Even if it killed him, Sasuke planned on tearing apart the upper establishment of Konoha’s government until there was nothing left but rubble and the ugly truth.

And that was what sent him running out of his room and into the night without hesitation.

 

* * *

 

 

Sasuke wasn’t surprised to see the hoard of people packing one of their clubs tonight, despite it being nearly three in the morning. The party-goers showed no sign of going home; in fact they were acting like the night had only started, drawing the attention of other wanderers on the street to the exclusive club doors.

He had to wind his way through the crowd to the back of the bar area without getting caught in the craze, and he could have sworn he felt a few hands touch his ass as he passed through. Luckily, he got to the back hallway in one piece and nodded at the guard blocking the door. He returned Sasuke’s gesture before stepping aside to let him in to the office space.

The first pair of eyes to meet his was none other than the onyx gaze of his older brother, Itachi. He stood beside Deidara, a slight frown etched on his features, making him look much older than he actually was. It had been a while since Sasuke had seen, let alone spoken to, him in person for quite some time. His hair looked longer, but it was still pulled back into its usual ponytail.

Deidara’s blue gaze landed on him for a brief second before he fell back into conversation with Itachi, who usually replied with a small head nod rather than words.

The other set of eyes on him belonged to a man Sasuke had only seen once or twice before. The pasty, pale gray skin and beady eyes belonged to Kisame, a guy who usually travelled with Itachi on their excursions. He always carried some sort of sword behind his back, but Sasuke had no idea if it was real, or if he had ever even used it.

“I see that everyone’s present.”

Sasuke almost cringed at the painfully familiar voice; he kept his eyes trained on the ground in front of him instead of the deep lilac stare he knew was focused on him.

“Oi, it’s not everyone. Hidan, Kakazu, and that ass aren’t here yet.”

“Hidan and Kakazu are out taking care of other matters and Sasori is out of the country, you should know that. I’ve also briefed them already regarding this.” Pain spoke with the powerful aura anyone would expect from a group leader. His voice was deep, and strong enough to be heard without raising it; it was also terrifying enough to follow Sasuke through his childhood like a never-ending nightmare.

Pain stood as the main symbol of their group, formally known as the Akatsuki (although Sasuke refused to acknowledge the name) and maintained the various businesses they contracted throughout the city, whether it was above ground or underground. Sasuke certainly couldn’t call the people around him acquaintances, let alone family, but the group was all he’d ever known since his parents died.

Of course, Pain stood more as a benevolent god rather than a fearful father figure, and Sasuke preferred to stay out of his radar as much as he could.

_So do you like…have a pimp and everything?_

It was almost comical to imagine Pain as a stereotypical pimp, but the situation was never a laughing matter. Whether Sasuke wanted to admit it or not, Pain essentially owned Itachi and him, and whatever business they made became _his_ business. There was no way he could explain that to Naruto though.

There was no way he’d want to explain that.

Lost in thought, Sasuke didn’t realize the large computer monitor had been switched on until he heard Pain start the meeting.

“About two hours ago we received a report from the southern warehouse in courtyard B regarding suspicious movement. Ten minutes after the report we stopped receiving intel from security and nearly every security camera managed to reset.”

“Uh…” Deidara stared at the empty screen with a frown. “So what are we supposed to do if we can’t see?”

Pain ignored him.

“One of our cameras managed to catch the movement of those responsible, and I need you to look very carefully. Remember features for future references as we are officially out of time.”

“Are we executing that now?” Tobi finally spoke up from the back corner, officially making his presence known. Sasuke hadn’t even seen him in the shadows.

“Yes.” Pain hit something on the screen, switching it to the feed from one of their hidden cameras.

At first, there was nothing but clutter and the scattered bodies of the guards, and it was unclear whether they were dead or alive. Another flash of movement passed out the frame before returning near the edge, close enough for them to make out the figure of a young woman with a pink ponytail. As she approached the safe against the far wall, she rolled up her sleeves before throwing her fist straight into the metal. As the girl pried open the safe with brute, inhuman force, a man with silver hair joined her side to shift through the contents inside.

Sasuke’s attention locked onto the emblems sewn onto the shoulders of their outfits; that ugly, leaf symbol left a sour taste in his stomach and made his blood boil. The government had finally started moving, and they weren’t even trying to be discreet about it anymore. It seems they were making their first bold move.

Just as Sasuke was about to turn away from the video, assuming it had ended, another figure caught his eye. Another man appeared in the frame, leaning over the girl to peer at the contents as well before gathering a handful and leading the way out of the building with the other two following. Sasuke’s eyes followed the head of blonde hair in pure shock as his brain whirled to register what was happening. The hair, the eyes, the _orange_. _The leaf symbol_.

The video paused with all three members frozen on the screen in plain sight. There was no doubting it when it was right in front of his eyes. How he was able to miss something so close to him…that too was far beyond his understanding.

Despite the burning in his throat and the ringing in his ears, Sasuke wanted to scream. He wanted to run out of the building and find answers, because there was no way, absolutely no way he had opened his heart and actually started to care about someone who worked for the same government responsible for the death of his family. There was no way he could be that stupid…

But then again, as he stared at the painfully familiar man in the video, Sasuke realized that he couldn’t even trust himself anymore.

“Any member with the leaf symbol should be killed on sight, but I want the blonde boy alive.” Pain’s voice barely registered in Sasuke’s head; he had far too many things to sort out right now, and his emotions alone would take him weeks…

“That boy holds a lot of valuable information. You capture him alive and you bring him to me, period. If he is dead the mission is a failure, do you understand?”

“Why is that brat so important, hm?” Deidara asked.

“He’s the mayor’s son and the foundation of everything that undercover operation stands on. Everything that bastard had has been entrusted to him, and if we can’t have him, neither can that woman who took his place.”

Mayor? Undercover?

It wasn’t making sense. Nothing was making sense.

“If I’m not mistaken…Sasuke, I believe I’ve seen you hanging around with someone shockingly similar.”

Sasuke slowly turned to look at his brother. Was Itachi seriously throwing him under the bus now? Of all times, he had to do this now?

“He was a loyal customer, there was no way I’d know he was an agent.”

“An undercover cop paying and using services without performing an arrest huh…looks like Konoha’s government isn’t as clean as they say.” Kisame sounded amused, but his expression failed to give anything away.

Pain returned his gaze to Sasuke. “If you are in contact with Namikaze’s boy, then you need to bring him to me. We have him filed under the name Menma, does that sound right? Did he give you a different name?”

It took all of Sasuke’s willpower to not throw up in the middle of the meeting room.

“It was Menma.” He hoped his lie could slip through unnoticed. “That was all he ever told me.”

“Do what you need to do, and do it immediately.” With that, Pain commenced the meeting and left the room with the members in tow.

Sasuke ignored his brother’s stare as he too left the office to return home. He wandered out of the club and down the street almost mindlessly; his brain struggled to keep up with the information he just received and the countering facts he had before. Trying to piece everything together made his head hurt, but that was nothing compared to the pain he was starting to get in his chest. It wasn’t heartburn, and it wasn’t a physical wound, but something deeper. This was the pain Sasuke had spent his entire life running from. It was the reason why he made rules to keep himself safe and free from unnecessary stress. He had stuck with it well, keeping the world at arm’s length to avoid this horrible feeling in his stomach…at least he had followed it until recently. Now it was different. Sasuke had changed, and he had done something he never thought he would do.

He had broken every rule in his book when he fell in love with Naruto.

 

* * *

 

  

Despite the amount of trouble Naruto was currently in, he knew he had made the right decision. No matter the situation, he always trusted his gut; it was never wrong and managed to keep him alive thus far. It was his mouth that got him in trouble, and he wasn’t all that smart either. Those were two things he didn't trust. And when it came to his heart, well…that seemed to lead him astray as well.

This was painfully obvious as Naruto found himself thinking about Sasuke again. That guy seemed to be the source of his problems, but Naruto had no one else to blame but himself. Especially when he found Sasuke more dangerous than his profession.

Instead of focusing on the path he was currently sprinting down, Naruto was wondering when he’d get to talk to Sasuke again, or if he’d ever see him again. Every intake of breath and burn in his muscles were simply background stimuli; Naruto had no problem running for his life, considering how fucked up his childhood was.

_“Good to know we’re both fucked up kids.”_

Something about Sasuke’s words rubbed him the wrong way at that moment. He had never meant for his tragic past to stand as a competition with Sasuke’s, and something about Sasuke’s expression made him back off like he had cornered a wild animal.

 

A faint noise made Naruto curve to a sharp left, hurdling over a bike parking rack and back into the street. Sure enough, a blade whizzed past his arm faster than he could see it. Traffic wasn’t too bad today, and lucky for him the sun had finally come up to paint the city in a faint orange glow. It made it easier to see, and Naruto preferred not to relive the memory of him tripping over a trash can while running for his life. 

That was thirty minutes ago, but that didn’t matter.

A black sedan screeched onto the street behind him, and Naruto only had time to take a quick glance over his shoulder before he put his body into hyper-drive. His body screamed as he flew down the streets, listening to the advancing vehicle and the unmistakable sound of gunshots. Things had escalated pretty quickly for a Sunday morning, but it wasn’t unusual.

As soon as Naruto reached the narrower streets and alleys, he slipped through as quickly as he could while using the time to draw his gun. Whoever was following him on foot was in for an ass-beating if they didn’t leave him alone.

He cautiously emerged from the other end of the alley, squinting through the harsh sunlight to see an abandoned parking lot. It looked like Kakashi was late. Again.

“Fucking geezer.” Naruto cussed under his breath as he loaded up and took off the safety for good measure. He remained hidden in the shadows of the alleyway and focused on keeping his breathing as quiet as he could despite the screaming in his lungs for air.

The world was eerily silent as the seconds ticked by.

Naruto could feel his nerves starting to stand on end, making him fidget in place while his attention started to stray from the alley to less important things. Was this distraction necessary? At the moment, they didn’t have enough physical evidence to start prosecuting any members of the Akatsuki aside from assault. However, the group had been taking part in murders, scandals, drug empires, nuclear weaponry, adultery, and more than Naruto could keep track of. He did have the file somewhere in his desk, but it was too long to read in a day. Or a week. Okay, maybe it had been a month.

What had caught his eye was the story of the Uchiha brothers. He was shocked to read about the incident when he and Sasuke were so close in age; Naruto had thought his life was unfortunate, but he couldn’t imagine being forced to sell his body for sex…not only that, but growing up in an underground operation like some kind of yakuza child.

Sasuke gave off a completely different vibe than what he had been expecting. Sasuke still radiated the elegance associated with the Uchiha family name, despite the fact that he was far from that former lifestyle. He was painfully straight-forward, but still carried himself better than most people Naruto knew. He didn’t know what he expected when he walked into that casino, but it sure as hell wasn’t to be attracted to him.

His mission was to go in and gather information. What wasn’t on that list was actual contact, or establishing a relationship; in fact, all of that was completely unprofessional. Naruto was already so deep in the shithole, there was no reason defending his acts anymore. He had blown so many opportunities to gather relevant information on the Uchiha incident, he had broken so many laws, he had given a prostitute money (to be fair he didn’t pay for the services), he had sex with said prostitute _several times_ , and he even managed to develop strong feelings for the exact person who was both a victim and an accomplice.

Naruto snapped awake at the sound of something crunching at the entrance of the alley, and sure enough the large figure of another man slowly advanced towards him. Stepping out of the alley and into the sunlight, Naruto strained to make out the features of the man that had been chasing him the entire morning.

Not only was he freakishly tall, he had unnaturally gray and scaly skin that stretched over facial features that were far from appealing. Beady black eyes bore into his with nothing but the pure intent to kill. Or maybe it was the massive sword he held at his side that gave off that impression. Did people even use swords anymore?

It didn’t even look like a sword; it looked like a giant cactus, but now wasn’t the time for figuring that out.

“Stand down!” Naruto commanded as he raised his gun, leveled at the man’s chest. “Don’t make me shoot you.”

The man didn’t respond as he slowly moved closer, forcing Naruto to raise his weapon a little higher. He didn’t want to shoot him, but if he didn’t have a choice…

Naruto backed up into the parking lot as he ran over his options, but his train of thought derailed when an army-green SUV sped into the lot, performing a full U-turn around Naruto before the trunk popped open. Naruto blinked, and the next thing he knew a strong set of hands yanked him through the trunk before speeding out the lot and down the road at least twice the speed limit.

“Easy on the jacket Sakura!” Naruto winced when he hit his head on the floor of the car.

Sakura’s green eyes narrowed in irritation.

“Well if you weren’t so unpredictable I wouldn’t have to yank you through things, would I?”

“I almost died…” Naruto remained on the floor, finally allowing his heart rate to drop back down to its usual pace. It was about time his backup made an appearance.

“It’s always like that.” Sakura muttered and returned to the front of the car, climbing over the back seat gracefully and leaving Naruto in the trunk. “Kakashi and I got the other package, so we’re good for today.”

“Any original files?” Naruto called.

“Several. We also have a lead on your father’s case.”

Naruto sat up at that.

“For real?”

Their squad leader Kakashi finally spoke up from the driver’s seat. “For real. You’re not going to like it though. You’re not allowed access to the files or that case…you understand that, right?”

Naruto frowned. He knew that well, but it still frustrated him beyond belief.

“I deserve the right to know the details of my parents’ murder, don’t I?”

He could imagine the sad expression on Kakashi’s face, despite the allergy mask covering most of it. “Of course, and that’s why I’m working my ass off to bring this case to a close. It’s time we end this operation once and for all, considering it’s been almost twenty years without real progress.”

“Yeah…” Naruto cast his gaze out the back of the trunk window as they made their way back towards their main building in the city. He made sure not to forget the black sedan he saw earlier and hoped it wouldn’t hinder their return.

 

Surprisingly enough, they managed to easily return to the city and regroup with the other government members. Naruto stayed out of the way when the major case files were being handled since he preferred to do more of the action and information gathering. During this buffer period, the agents were to lay low until orders said otherwise, and as long as they weren’t hearing any movement from the Akatsuki, they had no reason to fight.

Now, why the Akatsuki had suddenly fallen silent was a different matter. As anyone would’ve expected, the group should have acted out by now to show their influence…yet since their warehouse raids, there hadn’t been anything big enough for them to hear about. That made Naruto nervous. He hadn’t heard from Sasuke in a while either, and he hoped there wasn’t anything terrible happening to him while he didn’t know.

Naruto forced himself to stay silent, distracting himself whenever he reached for his phone since he knew the first person he’d contact would be Sasuke. When he was out drinking, he’d think about him. When he woke up in the morning and brushed his teeth, he’d think about him. He had no idea that he’d grow so attached to someone so different from him, despite that he had originally planned on gathering intel and using Sasuke as a vital form of evidence.

Naruto had never been good at using people. He hated lying and he hated being something he wasn’t. Being undercover had always been a challenge, but in the end, it usually worked out for him. With Sasuke, he didn’t have to pretend or hide his character. Yeah there were some pieces of information he couldn’t share with him, but he didn’t necessarily have to lie. He still felt bad about it, and he hoped this kind of issue wouldn’t have to last much longer.

As Naruto sat at his kitchen table, slurping up the instant ramen he’d bought earlier in the afternoon, his phone lit up with Sasuke’s contact on the screen. He could only stare at in surprise as it buzzed against the table, moving towards the edge as if it were going to fall off.

Sasuke never failed to surprise him, and once again he was calling out of the blue despite how much he hated taking initiative himself.

Naruto knew he wore an equally shocked look on his face when Sasuke had called him as he finished up work late one night, forcing him away from Kakashi’s perverted eavesdropping habits and into the privacy of his own car in the empty parking lot. It felt illegal listening to Sasuke breathe and moan his name on the other line, and near the end Naruto was seconds away from starting the car to speed over to Sasuke’s hotel room and see him in person. He wanted to see the flushed look on his perfect face and pull him close…he wanted to take Sasuke home with him and get to know who he truly was. And of course…do other things.

When they first started hooking up, Naruto noticed his bad habit of leaving hickeys along Sasuke’s neck. To be fair, Sasuke’s skin was particularly sensitive in that area and Sasuke never seemed to have any reservations about leaving marks on his body, but it was almost as if Naruto wanted to claim Sasuke as his own. He figured Sasuke probably had a few lovers himself in the past aside from his forced situation as a prostitute, yet for some reason Naruto wanted to be special. In the end, he was just being selfish. One night as he stripped Sasuke down, his eyes followed splotches and specks of unexplained bruises and marks scattered across Sasuke’s usual perfect, ivory skin. It seemed Naruto wasn’t the only one to act on a whim of dominance when it came to Sasuke either. From that moment on, Naruto refused to leave any more marks on Sasuke’s body, and he started to take note when the marks faded and when they started popping up again.

That was when he made a promise. No matter what, he was going to get Sasuke out of the Akatsuki. He wasn’t going to let him be forced through such a shitty environment if he could help it. He wanted Sasuke to be free.

At first, Naruto had been dead-set on stopping the Akatsuki because of their involvement with his parents’ murder, but as he became stronger and met the people who also suffered from the group’s malicious acts, his motives changed.

It wasn’t about revenge.

Revenge wouldn’t bring his parents back or make Naruto happy. He wanted to stop the Akatsuki before they could hurt any more people. He wanted to rescue the people trapped with the heinous group and now, he wanted to save Sasuke. Once the Akatsuki was disbanded, the city could start to rest a little easier and finally experience some long-awaited peace.

But saving Sasuke was a different matter. If he was anything like the other members of the Akatsuki, he had a deep-rooted hatred for the Hidden Leaf government. Whether the facts in his head were true or false, it didn’t matter if those facts pertained to the death of his family. That, Naruto could understand.

 

Naruto picked up the call and placed Sasuke on speaker.

“Sasuke?”

There was a brief pause on the line before he heard Sasuke’s voice fill the kitchen.

“What are you doing tomorrow?” He asked.

“Nothing that I know of…why? Wanna go on a date?”

He could hear the annoyance in Sasuke’s voice.

“You know we can’t be out in public…come to the hotel.”

“I can swing by around eight, sound good?”

“Sounds good.”

“See you–” Naruto frowned when Sasuke hung up on him. God, the jerk had no manners at all!

“Ass.” Naruto muttered as he finished his last bite of ramen, but he found himself smiling at the thought of seeing Sasuke again so soon.

 

* * *

 

 

Around eight-thirty, Naruto pulled into the parking lot behind the hotel Sasuke had switched over to. This one had more of a motel structure than the high-rise luxury one he’d been at before. While it still held its own glamor, it wasn’t in the safest of places and Naruto hoped his car would still be there when he returned. 

While he got out of the car and locked up, Sasuke stood a few feet away, leaning against the brick wall of the building with his usual unreadable expression in place. He looked as beautiful and put together as always, sporting a gray button-down shirt and black khakis.

“Did you come from work?” Naruto approached him with his usual smile and lightly tugged at the fabric. “So formal.”

“’Nn. There was some business I had to take care of…” Sasuke stared down at Naruto’s hand in what looked like confusion. “What took you so long?”

“Traffic? Also I couldn’t find my car keys, so that took ten minutes…”

“You’re an idiot.” Sasuke sighed. “I’m hungry, do you want to go somewhere? I’m sick of room service.”

Naruto shrugged. “You should’ve said so! I could’ve made reservations somewhere…”

“I don’t need a fancy dinner.” Sasuke stepped away from the wall and paused before turning to look at him. When he spoke again, his voice was just a whisper. “I can’t do this…”

“What? What’s wrong?” He wasn’t used to seeing Sasuke look so troubled. The look in his eyes and the expression on his face told two different stories.

Sasuke stepped closer until they were almost chest to chest.

“You need to go. Run. Away from here.” Sasuke’s voice was nearly impossible to hear, and he kept his head down as if to muffle his voice. “Seriously.”

“What do you mean?” Naruto whispered back. “I’m not going anywhere without you, what’s wrong?”

“I guess we can go for pizza…” Sasuke stepped back, returning to his usual volume and gave Naruto a not-so-subtle look for him to ‘get the hell out of here’.

“I’m in more of a taco mood, but…” Naruto started towards his car, but brief movement behind a nearby car made him swing into action. His fist connected with the first figure, but as he swung at the second he felt something stick into his side and sent crackling pain through his body. The Taser had managed to connect under his ribcage, shooting a voltage Naruto knew was too high for normal, and left him crumpling to the ground as something was yanked over his head. Surrounded in darkness, Naruto tried to focus on keeping his body still, but his muscles still went through spasms as he was carried to what he assumed was a vehicle nearby.

So the Akatsuki had Sasuke set him up? Naruto wasn’t surprised, and the fact that Sasuke tried to tell him to leave made him feel a little better in terms of that; what he needed to worry about now was how he was going to get out of this predicament. He never imagined being taken to the heart of the Akatsuki territory, and if he played his cards right maybe he’d get some vital information.

For now, he didn’t bother putting up a fight considering he didn’t have the strength to. He found himself fading in and out of consciousness as they tossed him into the backseat and sped off far from where Naruto was supposed to be. He could hear voices conversing around him, but he had to focus beyond the ringing in his ears to make out what they were saying.

“He said it was essential that you not kill him. Don’t you think the voltage was too high? He’s not moving…” The first voice was deep, and if Naruto was correct, the guy sounded concerned.

“Okay, that was an accident. But they said this guy was super strong and it was hard to knock him out so I didn’t want to go too low, you know?” The other one talked faster, and Naruto felt something poke his shoulder. “He’s definitely alive. Oi, Blondie yoo hoo, you awake?”

“Shut up.” The other one muttered. “Sasuke’s as white as a ghost. You okay?”

There was a brief period of silence after that. Naruto continued to feign unconscious, despite the annoying poking against his back.

“Suigetsu if you don’t stop poking him I’m throwing you out. It’s better he stays out.”

The poking stopped and Naruto almost breathed a sigh of relief. Not only was the annoyance gone, he now had a name. He allowed himself to sink into the murky feeling flooding through his body and finally fell unconscious.

 

 

When he blinked awake, Naruto found himself upright and seated in a metal chair. His hands were bound behind his back uncomfortably tight and the light in the otherwise empty room was unusually dim.

Other than the slight throbbing in his side from earlier, he didn’t appear to be hurt anywhere else. He knew that wouldn’t last long, but the main issue was how he was going to get out. It appeared to be a basic interrogation room; gray walls, gray floor, one door, and a single chair with him in it. The door appeared to lock from the outside, leaving it impossible to pick the lock from inside, and the right corner of the ceiling was occupied by a security camera. As basic as the room was, it seemed like they weren’t taking any risks with it. 

Naruto stiffened when the door swung open. A taller man, probably in his early thirties wheeled in a metal cart and slammed the doors shut behind him.

A small trickle of dread crept through Naruto’s bloodstream as he ran his eyes over who he believed would be his interrogator. He had auburn hair, dozens of piercings scattered across his skin, and wore a long cloak that Naruto immediately recognized had the Akatsuki’s mark. The black fabric embroidered with curling, red clouds gave it away, but what truly scared him was the man’s eyes.

They nearly glowed an unnatural purple, taking over his entire eye aside from his pupils. Naruto hoped it was contacts and not real; if his debriefing information was accurate, then he was dealing with the Akatsuki’s leader himself…Pain.

“Your unit has been causing us a bit of trouble.”

Naruto kept a blank stare, allowing his mind to calculate and recalculate how he should approach the situation. No doubt the man wanted information, but that wasn’t going to happen. The men who kidnapped him mentioned that they wanted him alive, so it was unlikely they’d kill him this soon. He hoped Kakashi and Sakura got his distress signal before he was captured…he could only thank his lucky stars he’d put the little contraption with his car keys. Although it was annoying when he’d accidently call Kakashi instead of unlocking his Camaro, he had to admit it was worth it.

“According to our security footage, you’ve been breaking into our warehouses and taking documents. Is there something in particular you’re looking for?”

He wanted to play stupid?

Naruto bit the inside of his cheek to hold himself back.

The man frowned at Naruto’s lack of response. “Well if you aren’t going to talk, I’ll just have to carve it out of you. They say pain is the quickest way to understand one another.”

Naruto’s eyes widened at the hooked blade in Pain’s hand.

“My father…” Naruto shook his head when his voice shook. “You were responsible for killing my family, so don’t pretend like you don’t know me.”

Slim fingers slipped under his chin to tilt his head closer. With a grimace, Naruto found himself face-to-face with terrifying eyes and a wicked smile.

“Oh I know exactly who you are. Namikaze’s only and orphaned child, Menma.”

“I want to know why,” Naruto hissed when the blade pressed against his throat, “why did you kill him and my mother?”

“The question is why did I spare you.” Pain sighed, before stepping back. “You’re in no position to be asking questions. Are you going to answer mine?”

“I thought it was obvious that I wasn’t.”

That answer earned him a right hook, shooting pain across his cheekbone.

“I have all the time in the world.” Pain shrugged. He spun the blade between his experienced fingers, and Naruto could see why this man was to be feared. He had the eyes of a psychopath, but Naruto was hard-headed.

“You actually don’t. You’ve killed too many people to keep walking around as a free man.”

“I’ve killed people? Do you have proof?”

Naruto rolled his eyes, forcing himself back to an upright position. Before he could make another smart-ass response, the door opened again to reveal a much larger, but younger man walk in. He had the same hair color as Pain, but they didn’t look related.

Pain nodded at him, and they shared a mutual look of understanding before the bigger guy approached him.

“The sooner you talk, the sooner this ends.” He muttered as he wrapped a massive hand around Naruto’s throat and flexed.

The recognition of the man’s voice from earlier evaporated once his windpipe squeezed shut. With no way to defend himself, he closed his eyes as fists began to rain above him, hitting him in the head, his chest, and his back until he felt like he was choking on his own blood. Once his head was yanked back, he dared to peek an eye open in time to see the knife slice up the front of his shirt.

“Tell me the codes, Menma.”

Despite the pain flaring across his face, Naruto’s lip curled into a sneer.

“Go fuck yourself.”

 

* * *

  

It had gotten to the point where Naruto was sick of hearing the door open.

His capturers had gotten impatient with him, and he figured it was nearing the time when they’d dispose of him before someone else came. He knew he was a valuable piece of information; despite his father being the mayor, he never knew anything classified or government related since his parents were killed before his third birthday. All information he retained had been through research, training, and missions. He could have all the passcodes and information in the world, but he could never find out the truth surrounding his parents’ death. At this point, Naruto wasn’t even sure if he _wanted_ to know anymore. Did the truth even matter anymore? It would just make him angry…it would spark that urge for revenge again, which was something he didn’t want.

His wounds were healing fast, at least. His eye, which had been swollen shut, could now open more than halfway to see who was coming through the door now. Last time, he had no idea who his torturer was, but whoever they were they had a thing for using electricity. He had a feeling it was the other guy who was in the car before.

Naruto flexed his wrists as the figure stepped through the door, slowly shutting it behind him. His dark hair was pushed back and harsh bags revealed just how sleep-deprived he was. Something wasn’t right.

“Sasuke?” It was a relief to see him, despite the circumstances. God, anyone would be better than Pain or that big guy.

Sasuke took a few steps closer, running his eyes over Naruto before dropping his gaze to the floor.

“You look like shit.”

“I wonder why.” He rasped back.

“You shouldn’t. You’re a fucking secret agent and you broke into Akatsuki territory. Are you trying to get killed? On top of that, you fucking lied to me.”

Naruto sighed, ignoring the taste of blood in his mouth.

“I never lied to you.”

“Are you serious? You knew who I was and pretended to be the oh-so-kind guy to get close to me…but for what? What was the point of that, _Menma_?” Sasuke added the last part with enough acid in his tone to make Naruto flinch.

“I didn’t pretend…and Menma isn’t my real name, it’s Naruto. That was the truth!”

By keeping his birth name, Naruto Uzumaki, he had been able to hide from the Akatsuki and other underground groups until he was old enough to defend himself. Menma Namikaze stood as his stage name for the child everyone knew his father left behind when he died. There were no records on Naruto’s birth for a reason, and keeping his mother’s last name somehow made him feel connected to both of them in his own way. He may look just like his father, but he had to keep both alive in his heart.

He normally didn’t give away his real name, but with Sasuke it was different. He felt his name fall out of his mouth naturally, and he didn’t feel like it was a mistake. No one truly knew who Naruto was anyway; it was always Menma.

Sasuke didn’t look convinced, and judging from the look on his face, there was more coming.

“Listen, me being an agent is true, and there was no way I could tell you that, right? At first I was ordered to follow you around and gather intel about you, but after I met you…it wasn’t that simple anymore. You drew me in and I wanted to get to know you, but not as an agent.”

When Sasuke spoke, his voice was thick with emotion Naruto had never seen him express. It was strong enough to make his fists shake at his sides.

“My family was slaughtered by the very person you work for. You know that. You _knew_ that. And you didn’t seem to have a single problem being with me despite that? Konoha is everything I stand against and you’re their pride and joy errand dog!”

He flinched back at Sasuke’s words.

“For some reason, I thought you were a good person. I can’t believe I trusted you, and you know I don’t trust anyone! You knew about my family before I even told you, didn’t I? Did you get all the information out of me, or did you just want to stay around for a good fuck?”

It felt like being beaten and stabbed, but worse. He would’ve preferred Pain to come back and plunge that blade into his heart if that meant this could end quicker. Never in this mission did he intend to use Sasuke, but he could see exactly where he was coming from. He didn’t have an explanation that Sasuke would believe. He had never lied, but he had never told the truth either.

“Your parents weren’t killed by the government.” Naruto picked up on a vital piece of information and latched to it, hoping he could at least make sense of something. “Who told you that?”

“It’s common knowledge. The government, including your father, believed that my father was corrupting the police force and had them removed from authority. When they rebelled, someone came to take them out of the picture completely.” Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Naruto’s confused expression. “Don’t act like you don’t know.”

“That’s…not true Sasuke.” Naruto had to pick his words carefully, but his mind had started forming several hypotheses at once. Was this how they kept Sasuke brainwashed in the Akatsuki? They convinced him that the very government his father worked for organized his family’s murder? “The murderer of your family, and my family, was a member of the Akatsuki. It had nothing to do with the police force; it was the village’s international relations and power distribution that caused it…”

Sasuke let out a singular, dry laugh. “The Akatsuki killed my family? Are you saying even my brother is in on it too? That everything that I’ve ever been told was a lie?”

“Sasuke, of course they’d lie to you…I’m sure they kept you and your brother alive because you were young enough to be used!”

“You’re just like the rest of them.” With that, Sasuke turned away, making his way back to the door. “All of you are pathetic liars. You and my brother would get along.”

“Sasuke!” Naruto lurched forward, cringing when the binds cut into his skin. “I’m going to get out of here, and I’m getting you out of here too!”

“What, so you can arrest me?”

Naruto shook his head. “No, it’s just going to be me and you! I’m taking you away from this hellhole.”

“Do you know who killed my parents?” Sasuke’s frozen glare made Naruto frown. They stared at each other for a few moments before Sasuke clicked his tongue and opened the door. “That’s what I thought. Have a nice life Naruto, that is…as long as you have it.”

“I’m getting out of here Sasuke. And I promise I’ll come back for you. Whether you want me to or not…I’ll be back, I promise okay?”

Sasuke hesitated in the doorway before leaving, letting the door slam shut behind him and leaving Naruto completely alone. He had to admit that was what he deserved, and Sasuke deserved to know the name of the man who ruined his life.

Naruto dropped his head, forcing the tears he’d been holding back to stay in place. The small, almost unnoticeable buzzing in his pocket didn’t make him sigh in relief. It left him feeling empty again, and it made him feel as though he had failed the entire mission all from his own personal choices.

 

* * *

 

Less than four hours after Sasuke had spoken with Naruto, the Akatsuki members received an alert from their nearby security members. One of their buildings had been compromised with a death toll of over sixty of their guards, and their detention room was no longer occupied. Not only did they receive a drastic cut to their staff, but their hostage was missing.

_“I’m getting out of here Sasuke. And I promise I’ll come back for you._ ”

As Sasuke loaded his gun and slipped into his gear, he couldn’t get Naruto’s expression out of his head. Determined would have been an understatement, but Sasuke was done with listening. Yeah, Naruto had managed to escape, but coming back for him?

There was no way he’d believe that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed that long chapter, I enjoyed reading it myself! Stick around for more drama the next chapter!   
> ^^^
> 
> Thanks everyone for the positive feedback! I'm glad this little story is doing well! I planned on keeping it short, so unfortunately the next chapter is the last one! I wanted to take it a little farther, but I have a habit of dragging on fics and getting writer's block so I figured this would be best...  
> See you guys next chapter! We appreciate all comments and kudos!!


	3. Round Robin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final showdown. What has really been going on, and how will Sasuke deal with finding out the truth?

“Another day, another chance we might die.”

As true as Kiba’s words were, Naruto wasn’t in the mood to laugh. Today was an important day; the make it or break it in terms of their current mission, but no one felt prepared for what it entitled. Their plans were starting to feel makeshift and haphazard, orders weren’t coming from the main branch, and Naruto didn’t have the heart to let Kakashi know his uniform made him itchy. Sure, a rash was far from a worst case scenario for him, but he preferred not to have any more distractions.

To say the least, his group was stressed out. They were essentially walking onto a minefield blindfolded until their Anbu back-up came to clean up the mess. One of the members led Naruto’s team and his friend Shikamaru’s team to the old apartment complex that was said to stand as the Akatsuki’s hideout. How they had managed to hide in almost plain sight was beyond Naruto’s understanding, and a part of him believed that this was an elaborate trap. Although their sources were trustworthy, or at least as close to that as they could get, this sort of set up felt strange and…honestly, suspicious as fuck.

Naruto couldn’t even say he was a hundred percent sure Sasuke was in that building, but he and his crew were betting on the fact that he was. All they needed was to infiltrate, subdue who they could, confiscate evidence, and retrieve the Uchiha brothers in one piece. They didn’t have any information on how many members were lodged up in that hellhole, only that the main members were scattered around the city in separate attacks.

 

A shuffle at his side and a wet tongue against his arm brought a smile to Naruto’s face. He gave Kiba’s dog a few pats on the head as they walked down the street, advancing through the dangerous side of the neighborhood and into enemy territory.

Kiba frowned, his eyes trained on his dog.

“Look…I know Akamaru’s a certified bomb-sniffer bad-ass police dog and all, but does he really have to come here with us? I don’t even think it’s safe for us to go let alone my dog…”

“We’re going to protect him. The Akatsuki has a class-A explosives expert on their team and not many of us can smell a bomb ticking.” Kakashi gave Kiba a sympathetic look before glancing at Akamaru. “And your dog has proved that he’s more than capable of protecting himself.”

Naruto shuddered at the image of Akamaru tearing one of their targets limb from limb after Kiba had been injured in their last big outing. The sight was enough to leave the best of them gagging as they reported the scene. The massive dog paid no mind to the wary looks thrown in his direction as he saddled up against Kiba’s side.

Maybe it was possible that they would die today. Very few of them knew what the Akatsuki were actually capable of, and if their information was incorrect, they could be walking into a full house full of serial killers horribly understaffed and unprepared.

Their Anbu escort Sai remained silent as they walked through town. It was a rule for Anbu agents to wear cat-like masks and never speak when on a mission, and it was such a difference from Sai’s usual personality that it made Naruto bully him constantly for it.

“I like you better when you’re quiet Sai. No smart-ass comments or harassment is nice at times like these.” Naruto matched his pace to flash a cocky grin. “You should wear the mask as a fashion statement.”

Sai remained silent, but gave Naruto the finger before picking up the pace to direct them around the corner.

“That’s not very professional.” Naruto muttered. His reaction gave him the little burst of energy he needed; he knew he would pay for it when they got back and Sai’s mask came off.

 

However, as the apartment complex came into sight, Naruto found himself wiping his hands across his cargo pants more and more frequently. Saying he was nervous would be an understatement.

He wasn’t a pro like the others were, in fact he was one of the youngest on the team. Not only that, but Naruto knew he never had a strong resolve to be part of the special agents’ force. For a long time, he was fueled by the desire to solve his parent’s murder, and that desire hadn’t waned, but taken a new form altogether.

It formed fear.

Sometimes it felt like Naruto had dug himself his own grave, getting involved in matters that he should have left in someone else’s hands…but then again that wasn’t his personality. He put his head in where he had no business being. He jumped in head-first before asking any questions…he wanted to belong somewhere and fill the gap in his heart at the same time. Despite being accepted as a tentative agent, only thanks to heritage and caregivers, Naruto had gone through the training and tests like everyone else. In everyone’s eyes he was a true member, someone strong and dependable.

Yet that wasn’t the case at all.

Naruto didn’t back down from his word. That was who he was, but that didn’t mean he never wanted to. Since he woke up this morning he questioned how his life choices had added up to this moment. It was highly probable that today Naruto would find out the truth about everything. Konoha’s underground madhouse, the Uchiha massacre, his family’s murder, and even who he truly was. Did he follow this path to save other people or to save himself? Was saving Sasuke the only thing keeping his feet moving forward?

Through this job Naruto had helped a lot of people. From rescuing kittens in trees to catching purse-snatchers and train-gropers, and that had always made him feel good; helping others was what he felt the most pride in, considering it was the help of others that kept him alive this long.

And yet…

“Flank out on both sides, start from the ground up. From what we know both structures have two floors and we have no idea how many are camped in there right now.” Kakashi’s voice snapped Naruto out of his inner dialogue and kicked him straight back into reality.

 

They stood hidden behind a run-down convenience store, right across the street from a large, empty concrete parking lot that sat between two apartment buildings. The short, two story set up gave a motel-like feeling to it, yet the apartments were only accessible from the inside. Meaning they had no choice but to raid the lobby and hope for the best. No matter how much recon they did, they could never predict the number of members inside without a high risk of getting caught. Considering the massive number of suspicious groups crowding the city the past two days, the Akatsuki had to be leading them. As a precaution, most of Konoha’s task force was concentrated near the city center, mostly to protect the mayor and higher officials.

Sai gestured to the top level before pointing to Naruto.

“It’s highly likely Sasuke will be somewhere on the top floor, guarded at that. It’s also possible Pain is here rather than with his other members.” Kakashi explained Sai’s gesture when Naruto gave him a confused look. “Also Akamaru will remain on the main floors with me so we don’t set anything off. Do not make any sudden or extreme movements if you can avoid it. We don’t want all the action swarming us at once, but once we’re found out, we’re found out. Avoid casualties because your safety is the most important.”

With that, they split from position and snuck their way towards their respective buildings. Naruto, Sakura, and Kiba led one half of the group to the main door of the apartment, approaching it as cautiously as though landmines littered the pathway. Peering through the dirty glass window, Naruto drew his gun and motioned for the others to get into a single file line.

Naruto slowly pulled the main door open, slightly surprised that it wasn’t locked, and paused when the hinges squeaked; it seemed the door could open just enough for one person to squeeze through at a time before making noise.

They silently shuffled into the main lobby, passing by unused mailboxes and torn wallpaper until they came to a stop where the apartments began. The place was as broken down as it could possibly be, with dust-coated windows and dark red stain-covered carpeting under their feet that felt suspiciously soggy. The lights were dim and dying, a few flickering further down the hall like an ominous sign. It might be spacious, but the apartment doors didn’t seem to close completely, and a few didn’t seem to have doors at all; perhaps it only served as resting quarters and nothing more.

With a single hand motion, Sakura and a few members split off down one hall and towards the basement, while Naruto and Kiba stepped into what appeared to be the lounge. Beyond that room Naruto could see the massive staircase leading up, and from there Naruto assumed the real trouble would begin. He could hear small rustlings and occasional bangs from where the members began to subdue whoever was in the apartments, which meant they had a fixed amount of time before everyone else caught on.

Naruto could feel his heartbeat pounding in his head, painfully loud in the silence of the building. There wasn’t any time to be nervous, and there wasn’t any time to make mistakes. He was going to find Sasuke and bring him out of the Akatsuki’s hands. That was certain.

“Let’s move fast, Kiba.” Naruto whispered to him over his shoulder as they moved through the room. There wasn’t much to it, a few paintings still hung on the wall, some crooked and some filled with bullet holes. A few lounge chairs and a sofa were in the back that he could barely make out. The lights didn’t reach the other half of the room, leaving Naruto hardly any time to jump to the side when something big flew past his face, crashing into the wall next to him with enough force to shatter apart.

“There goes being sneaky.” Kiba muttered under his breath as he steadied his gun, aimed at the figure that seemed to materialize out of the shadows near an old pool table. Standing up from his spot to stand at full size, the cloaked figure stepped into the dim light to expose his familiar beady-eyes and sharp grin.

“You, huh?” Naruto remembered the pasty-skinned bastard from before. The guy had him running through the streets like a beheaded chicken until Kakashi and Sakura rescued him, and he didn’t seem like the guy to mess around with. “Kiba watch out this guy is dangerous.”

“Danger’s my middle name. Go on ahead Naruto we ain’t got time to be doing two-on-one’s. He probably woke up half the apartment already.” Kiba gave him a wolfy grin. “I’ll catch up to ya!”

Naruto hesitated before he separated from Kiba with a stiff nod. He knew Kiba was capable of defending himself, but against a monster like that, there wasn’t any telling what could happen. Their main issue was time, and like Kiba had said, this guy might have cut their chances even shorter.

 

 Naruto whipped around the corner, landing a kick in the chest to the first guy to leave his apartment. He went down without a fight, but the next guy came out with a knife swinging like a madman. Naruto pushed him back into the apartment, kicking furniture to block his path before disarming him with a stronghold he’d learned from training.

“Where’s Sasuke?” Naruto demanded.

“No idea who you’re talking about.” The guy garbled back as his air supply shut off. Once he stopped struggling, Naruto let him crash face-first onto the floor with an annoyed sigh. It didn’t look like this mission was going to be as clean as he hoped it would be.

The rest of the apartment proved to be empty, and when Naruto emerged from the hallway he was greeted by the sound of Kiba’s growling in the other room. The guy was a beast when it came to combat, but would it be enough to take on a guy almost twice his size?

Naruto pound his way through two more apartments on his side, catching most of them mid-snooze and beat them until they could no longer respond to him. No one wanted to tell him where Sasuke was.

Irritation and dread started creeping through Naruto’s bloodstream as he stepped out of the last apartment. Maybe they were wrong? Maybe Sasuke wasn’t here and they were wasting both their time and resources. Even worse, they had their agents gathered here when they could be out protecting other factions.

“I hear you’re looking for Sasuke?” A slim boy slowly descended the stairs with a cocky look on his face and something clutched in his hand.

“You gonna answer my questions?” Naruto slid his gun back into his holster and flexed his fists. This guy was enough to take on with hand-to-hand combat, easy, and he needed to save ammo.

The boy flicked his wrist and blue energy crackled to life in his palm, a wicked smile making its appearance. Wild, white hair despite his young age and unnatural purple eyes didn’t stir his memory of any records he’d seen of the Akatsuki members, but the voice was enough to make his stomach churn with anger.

“You’re the taser guy, huh?” Naruto cracked his neck. “Man, I got a favor to return to you!”

“Ooh scary…” Suigetsu whistled, but a brief flash of emotion on his face told Naruto that he was indeed scared, if not terrified, of going one-on-one with him.

“So where’s Sasuke?”

The boy shrugged. “Why do you wanna know?”

“Special business.” Naruto snapped back.

Suigetsu’s eyes widened to near full-moons. “Oh that’s right…! So like, is Sasuke you’re little bitch now, or what? I heard you were his best client and all…but you certainly haven’t been the first, either…”

Naruto took the first swing, faking a sharp hook to knock the taser out of Suigetsu’s hand and drove his knee into the boy’s stomach. Before he could crash to the floor, Naruto grabbed a handful of his shirt and held him up, allowing the boy to catch his breath in small pathetic coughs. As Naruto lifted his fist again, Suigetsu’s smile widened.

“Why are you going through such extreme lengths for him?” Suigetsu cocked his head to the side and stared at Naruto’s fist, as if daring him to throw the punch.

“He’s important to me.” Naruto knew he didn’t owe the guy an explanation. He didn’t have to say anything at all, yet it just slipped out. “Now where–”

“That’s fucking disgusting.” Suigetsu cut him off, his smile long gone. “Why would you even want to be with that guy after all the people he’s been with? Everyone here knows how Sasuke is…he’s even the pet of that fucker…”

“Who?” Naruto brought Suigetsu closer and gave him a hard shake. “Who’s pet?”

“Oh that made you angry.” The boy’s smile slowly crept back before he avoided Naruto’s glare. “Who knows…”

“I thought you all were supposed to be comrades. Hell, possibly even friends!” Yet this guy had such nasty things to say about Sasuke with a look of utter disgust on his face. It pissed Naruto off more than anything else, and there wasn’t much left stopping him from pounding him into the dirty carpet.

“Friends? With Sasuke?” Suigetsu burst into laughter, strong enough to shake his entire frame in Naruto’s hand. “He’s not the kind of guy you’re friends with pal…I’m sure you know what I mean.” Suigetsu’s wink earned him a hard punch to the face, successfully knocking him out cold and possibly breaking his nose.

Naruto massaged his fist as he made his way towards the stairs, drawing his knife as he began his ascent with a murderous look in his eyes.

* * *

  

It seemed Naruto wasn’t the only one who sensed something wrong with this raid.

 

Despite this apartment complex standing as one of the Akatsuki’s main living quarters, it’s defense was far weaker than any of them expected; yeah, they were getting a run for their money, but it wasn’t enough to make them worry. The members who seemed to be staying here were only grunts from what Naruto could tell, and no matter how many doors Naruto bust down, he couldn’t find Sasuke.

Naruto flexed his wrist as he remained hidden behind an overturned dining table, also known as his makeshift shield. The two guys he had been fighting with suddenly whipped out pistols of their own and littered the apartment in bullets trying to hit him. The room had fallen silent for the past few seconds, and Naruto assumed it was because they were reloading or looking for more ammo. Either way, Naruto was running out of options. He was burning through his own ammo and he wasn’t even through half of the apartments on the second floor. Considering how slow the operation was moving and the lack of Akatsuki reinforcements, Naruto could make a conclusion on his own.

The Akatsuki knew they were coming to this base and planned for it.

They most likely sent their stronger members elsewhere to take care of business, leaving their more dispensable members to take the fall. If that were the case…

An explosive bang scattered Naruto’s thoughts and blew a hole straight through the table on his left, narrowly missing his arm. In horror, Naruto stared at the fringing wood and damage that could have only been done by a shotgun at close range.

It seemed like they had upgraded.

Before Naruto could hear the gun reloading, he slowly crawled behind the couch instead, peering between the gap in the furniture to see the two men blocking the front door. The tallest guy took aim again, this time more to the center, but never got a chance to pull the trigger. Blunt force slammed into the side of his head before the same happened to his friend, and they both dropped to the floor like deadweights.

Naruto cautiously emerged from behind the couch and gave his savior a cheeky smile.

“You really saved my ass.”

“As usual.” Kiba rolled his eyes, but returned Naruto’s smile in full. “According to Sakura, there’s nothing here. Records, gone. Safes are empty. They wiped it clean before we got here.”

“There’s something here.” Naruto rejoined Kiba’s side, drawing his gun from his holster and checking the contents. “You got anymore ammo?”

“I mean we gotta check every nook and cranny anyway.” Kiba handed Naruto a small box before walking back out into the hallway. “Maybe they left something behind…but it’s suspicious as all hell.”

Kiba and Naruto took the next set of apartments across from one another, and they both ended up empty. No matter how many papers Naruto shifted through, there was nothing helpful for the case. Kiba managed to find a few stashes of drugs and cash, but it paled in comparison to the evidence they truly wanted.

“Three apartments left.” Kiba pointed to the door at the farthest end of the hall. “That’s the biggest one in the building, kind of like a penthouse suite. Maybe it’s like the boss level, huh?”

“In this empty set-up?” Naruto slowly approached the door to the next apartment, gesturing for Kiba to come with him. They couldn’t afford to let their guard down now, and Naruto could feel his patience running dangerously thin. His main objective was to find Sasuke, but it didn’t look like he’d be here; the last thing he wanted to be doing was wasting time. 

The duo kicked down the door to apartment two-thirteen with enough force to echo through the rest of the complex, tearing the door off its hinges like it was nothing. They were greeted by silence; the sun shone through the window on the far wall, revealing one of the cleanest living rooms they’d seen so far today. Basic couches, coffee table, yet no sign that it had ever been lived in. No magazines or beer cans on the floor, no overpowering smell of cigarette smoke, no pictures or damage on the walls. The room felt like a stage.

Naruto took a few steps inside, noticing the heavy swallow Kiba made behind him. The place gave them a bad vibe, and he could only hope that meant a good thing.

As soon as he rounded the corner, Naruto found himself staring into two sets of painfully familiar eyes and the barrel of a gun.

“What a pleasant surprise…” Kiba kept his aim steady, ready for any sudden movement, while Naruto’s gaze dragged from Sasuke’s to the man standing behind him in the kitchen. For a minute, the room was absolutely silent as everyone stared each other down. Sasuke’s glare kept Naruto rooted in place, his hands daring to shake as he held his gun in position.

From the looks of it, Sasuke appeared to be unharmed. Maybe a little rustled, but he seemed to be fully aware of the situation. Naruto’s presence didn’t appear to put him off at all, if anything it appeared to annoy him. As relieved as Naruto was to see him safe, he could hardly celebrate let alone put his guard down.

The man in the kitchen slightly dipped his head as a quiet chuckle escaped, and he raised his head to stare at Naruto.

“You finally came.” He passed Sasuke and approached Naruto with an amused expression. His eyes naturally held the cold, lethal look of a killer that never failed to make Naruto’s hair stand on end. It was like he breathed dangerous air, and every footstep he took was silent but calculated.

This man couldn’t be anyone other than Sasuke’s brother. The two keys to the entire Akatsuki’s downfall.

“Oi, Itachi are you insane?” Sasuke kept his gun trained on Naruto, but he held a look of increasing panic in his eyes as Itachi got closer. Naruto wondered who Sasuke would most likely shoot if he had to.

Naruto’s eyes flicked from Sasuke to Itachi again. The two held shockingly similar features to one another; Itachi’s hair was longer, but still that beautiful dark hair brought out fair features and equally intense eyes. He didn’t look too much older than Sasuke, but he didn’t look that young either, teetering somewhere in between. They both held the elegance and confidence associated with the Uchiha name, but they had lost their bright, blinding radiance to hide in the dark, gloomy shadow of Konoha’s corruption. Now, all Naruto needed to do was follow Kakashi’s instructions.

He didn’t like them per se, nor did he think it was a good idea, but his captain had seemed sure of this plan…something they had apparently been working on for years. 

Itachi stopped a foot or two from where Naruto stood, and Naruto closed the distance slowly, lowering his gun from Sasuke and instead placing it into Itachi’s hands. He prayed Kakashi wasn’t making a mistake.

Sasuke stood dumbstruck as Itachi gave Naruto a brief nod and checked the gun’s condition before sliding it into his belt. Naruto hesitantly met Sasuke’s gaze, which somehow managed to look more betrayed than when he had last seen him.

“What is this?”

Itachi shrugged out of his cloak and gave his brother a firm look over his shoulder.

“Sasuke we don't have time to explain.”

Sasuke wasted no time in adjusting his aim to his brother. “You’ll find time. Start talking.”

Sasuke and Itachi stared each other down for a few moments before Itachi let out a defeated sigh. Kiba and Naruto shared a look before Kiba moved back towards the door with his phone pressed to his ear.

 

Itachi dropped his cloak to the floor, frowning down at it as if deep in thought. “In short I never worked solely for the Akatsuki. I’m an information broker…more easily said, a spy.”

Sasuke frowned. “Why would you work for the government after all they’ve done?”

“Konoha was never to blame Sasuke. Before our parents died Father was going through some rough negotiations, and on top of that the Akatsuki were just beginning to form.”

“So what are you trying to say?” Sasuke’s grip began to shake. “Spit it out already!”

“When we came home that night the Akatsuki were still in our house, and they planned to kill us both. At ten years old, the only thing I could do was beg for them to spare your life, Sasuke. At the time, that was what my purpose was, to protect you when our parents couldn’t. I promised them everything, handed over my life and soul to work for the organization…and in the end, we were taken in. That’s how we ended up in the Akatsuki.” Itachi turned to give Naruto a sad smile. “If only I had realized what a mistake that was.”

Naruto wanted to walk away from this exchange. As much as he wanted, and needed, to hear the story of the Uchiha murders, this felt like he was intruding on private matters. It didn’t feel like his place to hear Itachi’s story, and he knew it was just going to get uglier.

“You…” Sasuke’s lip curled into a feral growl, “who the hell gave you the right to decide such a thing?”

Itachi opened his mouth to answer, but Sasuke wasn’t done.

“God knows I would’ve rather died than live such a shitty life with nothing to show for it! How many years…how many years have I wasted, walking around casinos and fucking strangers behind closed doors, all for a fucking government scheme? Are you fucking kidding me Itachi?!”

Itachi kept his gaze on his brother, but his previous emotionless gaze turned rather sad.

“I begged for them to spare you, but they would only guarantee me your life…I promised myself I would do everything I could to keep you alive.”

“I can’t believe this….” Sasuke dropped his gun, and instead his hands started creeping through his hair as he tried to process what he was hearing. “All this time…you knew. You knew _everything_. And you didn’t tell me? There’s no way…not even you could…”

Sasuke shook his head and made his way for the door, storming past Itachi and Naruto with his head hanging low and bangs covering his eyes.

“Sasuke, please there’s more to this than you–”

“Don’t.” Sasuke snapped back. “I don’t even want to look at you anymore.” With that, Sasuke pushed past Kiba and stepped over the broken door, fleeing the apartment before Naruto could call out to him.

 

Naruto found Sasuke’s reaction completely understandable. Even when Naruto had told him the truth, Sasuke didn’t want to believe it. As though it took everything in his body to reject the possibility that he was living in a never-ending lie. Now, his only surviving family had confirmed his deepest fear and laid it out in the open for everyone to see, and there was nothing left for Sasuke to deny. His very brother had been working behind his back, feeding information to Kakashi and the others about Akatsuki whereabouts and actions while acting as the seemingly innocent group member. Even if that meant he had to turn his back to his brother’s treatment and forced situation.

However, it wasn’t like Itachi got off scratch-free. He had been tormented by the weight of his decisions since the day his parents died. He shouldered the hatred Sasuke held for him because it was more favorable than being responsible for his brother’s death. That night, the one night he had made contact with Itachi in the city and managed to get spotted by Sasuke, Itachi seemed to wear the truth on his sleeve. He never had anyone he could tell the truth to, someone he could finally spill his secrets and grievances to. They had talked long into the night, even about things that didn’t relate to the mission at hand, but Naruto found Itachi rather…fragile. The man didn’t have much left aside from his brother, but his emotional suffering was only getting the best of him. Itachi needed to be saved just as much as Sasuke did.

“He’ll be okay.” Itachi sighed, mostly to himself, and turned to give Naruto his full attention. “First, there’s some things I need to go over with you while we can.”

“Perfect timing.”

Naruto glanced over his shoulder to catch Kakashi’s appearance at the doorway. He gave them a friendly salute, but his eyes said nothing but business. His presence always made the situation feel like it was under control even when it wasn’t. His captain exuded a form of confidence that could only be reserved for the experienced veterans on the task force.

The four gathered around the empty coffee table, faces set in stern concentration as they listened to Itachi’s debriefing on the Akatsuki’s movements. Most of their predictions had been correct; squads were dispersed around the city or fleeing altogether while this base stood as a decoy. Most evidence had either been hidden or destroyed aside from what Itachi had salvaged, and the leadership of the Akatsuki had managed to unravel at the seams.

“Meaning?” Naruto scratched his head as he struggled to follow, hoping it was because the amount of information was just too much and not simply because he was an idiot.

Itachi gave Naruto a forgiving smile, making him look much nicer than he did before. “Pain has always stood as the face of the Akatsuki, but in reality he was never the leader. It took me until recently to realize this.”

Kakashi leaned forward in his seat, his hands interlocked so tightly his knuckles turned white.

“Meaning while Pain was the face, someone else was pulling the strings. If it isn’t Pain, then what other member could it be? Unless…” Kakashi’s eyes narrowed as he entered his phase of deep-thinking. They all leaned forward in anticipation as he connected the strings in his mind.

“If anyone, it would have to be Tobi. He is the only member of the Akatsuki who hides his face, and his whereabouts are usually unknown.” Itachi finished Kakashi’s thought process himself and gestured to a single photo of the masked individual.

“You mentioned him once before and I went digging into some archives…I’ve never been able to connect two and two together officially, but his joining of the Akatsuki directly correlates with the disappearance of Obito Uchiha, a student of Naruto’s father in the past and a member of the Uchiha family.”

Itachi’s eyes widened in authentic surprise.

“Obito Uchiha….that name sounds somewhat familiar…if I’m not mistaken, he was one of the illegitimate children who took the Uchiha name but never received any benefits from our family. In other words he was an Uchiha by name only…rejected by the others and forced to live on the sidelines with his mother. There’s not a doubt in my mind he would harbor a hatred towards the family…especially with my father as the head of the Uchiha name.”

Kakashi leaned closer, a newly lit flame seemed to have been born in his eyes. This was a new chapter to the case, something they’d been searching years for. “Do you know the name of his father?”

Itachi frowned. “I do not, but it wouldn’t take long for me to find out.”

Kakashi, Kiba, and Naruto all lowered their heads in a humble bow.

“Please, we leave it to you.”

“So if this guy has suddenly disappeared on several occasions…how do we find him?” Kiba lifted his head first, his face pulled into a scowl.

Itachi shook his head.

“You don’t. He finds you.”

Naruto shuddered at Itachi’s words. The man seemed to have a face made of stone, unmoving and vacant of any emotion. There was no fear, no regret…it was as if his life were never in danger. It was hard to believe this man had been raised by the enemy, exposed to death every day of his life, and didn’t even fear the possible repercussions of his betrayal.

Itachi met Naruto’s curious gaze and offered him a small smile that seemed unnatural, a painful tug to his perfectly set mask.

“I will show you the traps that have been set around here, but as I mentioned before most of the firepower is concentrated in the city.” 

Kakashi stood up and nodded. “So this isn’t even a trap, it’s just a decoy.”

Itachi mirrored his nod. “That is correct.”

“So why would they leave you two here?” Kiba stepped into the conversation with his scowl still in place. “You’d think they’d want to keep you two tucked under their wings.”

“Well, we had the other members here…and my abilities are more than enough to hold back an entire team alone.” Itachi finally pulled his gaze from Naruto’s and stood up to stand beside Kakashi. “My brother is also more talented that you seem to recognize…underestimating us is what put the Akatsuki in this position in the first place. Kakashi, follow me.”

With that, Itachi led Kakashi out the room to explain the layout, while Naruto and Kiba were ordered to stand ground and ensure no other movement occurred while they maintained the base.

“I know Kakashi’s been working with Itachi for a while now…but I don’t trust him.” Kiba growled as he watched them leave the building. He refused to sit down; shifting from foot to foot in the center of the room with a scowl set in place. “He could turn on us at any moment." 

Naruto examined his gun with a pensive expression. “I don’t think he will.”

Kiba whipped his head around to look at Naruto. “That’s right! Your ass went out and met him personally, didn’t you!!”

Naruto just nodded. It seemed like the news had already leaked to the other members, something he had been trying to avoid.

“What did you two talk about?”

“Business mostly. Today’s plan and the current whereabouts of the Akasuki members.”

Kiba scoffed. “Bullshit. You went to ask about Sasuke.”

“No I didn’t.”

“Then why couldn’t Kakashi go?”

Naruto frowned. “He was busy.”

“Why would they send you on a mission that could have easily been a trap?” Kiba tapped his own gun in annoyance. “You aren’t making any sense, dude.”

Naruto remained silent. Kiba obviously had a point, but it wasn’t something he was at liberty to discuss. Yes, the plan was originally for Kakashi to go, but the squad leader had other intentions. He also had a knack for being annoyingly perceptive about his interest in Sasuke.

“ _I’m sure if you go you’ll find some answers you’ve been looking for…about Sasuke that is._ ”

The name drop wasn’t even necessary. It was though Kakashi wanted to see the frustrated look in Naruto’s eyes when he made the offer. Naturally, Naruto accepted it and went on to the meeting in Kakashi’s place.

 

Back then Itachi didn’t seem nearly as threatening, and he welcomed Naruto into the makeshift hideout he had taken over and launched him into a conversation that ultimately ended up being about his brother. When Itachi spoke about Sasuke, his voice was filled with guilt and regret; an overpowering feeling of failure and helplessness for the one person he had wanted to protect the most.

“ _Even if I’m the one he hates the most in the end, I can bear with it.”_ He had said with a pained, but honest smile. _“As long as he’s alive.”_

“Tch. Whatever, I know you aren’t gonna talk about it. Instead, can we talk about how suspicious it is that we’ve been here making a big ass commotion and the so-called boss hasn’t showed his face yet? Isn’t he supposed to be here?”

“That was just an assumption. At this point I highly doubt it.” Naruto sighed, pinching the loose fabric of his pants as he tried to keep his mind from wandering again. “Best bet is he left before we came.”

“Or he was never here at all…” Kiba fell silent as soon as they heard the floorboard creak. They turned to watch Sasuke re-enter the apartment without a word or a glance in their direction, passing by to go into the kitchen and rummage through the fridge. 

Kiba only stared after Sasuke in what looked like irritation, his lips slightly parted as if he were going to make a remark about his entrance; Naruto found himself staring at Sasuke too, but he knew the boy would look anywhere but his direction. As long as he was safe, that was all that mattered. It was almost as if he were repeating Itachi’s words.

_Even if he hates me in the end, as long as he’s alive…_

Naruto sighed, pushing his hair back. No, he wouldn’t be able to stand the idea of Sasuke hating him forever.

 

Sasuke remained eerily quiet in the back, pouring himself a glass of water from the tap and rearranging the weapons on the counter. Perhaps he calmed down or received orders from his brother before returning? As far as Naruto knew, they had secured the building they were currently in, so there wasn’t much for them to do until the other building was cleared. Even so, it felt like their mission was far from over. Things were going a little too smooth for comfort, and Naruto knew it was important to trust his instincts.

A few minutes of silence ticked by until a pair of footsteps came down the hallway towards the open apartment door.

“Thank God they’re finally back-“ Kiba’s remark was cut short as brute force sent him flying across the room and crashing through the glass double-pane doors behind them.

Naruto rolled off the couch and onto his feet in less than a second, his eyes focusing on the two unfamiliar men who entered the room. One slowly lowered his foot, clearly having been the one to kick Kiba out of the way, and focused a pair of purple eyes on Naruto.

_What is with these guys and purple eyes?!_

“Whoops…I didn’t see him standin’ there, that’s my bad…” the shorter man tilted his head back and laughed; Naruto took notice of the chain around his neck. It looked like something religious, but no religion Naruto had ever seen before.

The taller man had a grotesque face spotted with stiches and different colors of patched skin, along with vacant eyes that seemed to both see everything and nothing at all. His shorter companion had a regular face, slicked back white hair, and a psychotic look in his eyes.

Even if Kiba was still in commission, these guys spelled trouble in capital letters.

 

“What a surprise it is to see you here.” The white-haired man took a few steps closer, pushing Naruto back towards the wall with the intensity of his gaze alone. “I was hoping I’d get to meet you today! Everyone’s had their eyes on you, you see….”

“Hidan make this quick.” His companion leaned against the doorframe. “We don’t have time to waste.”

“Yeah, yeah.” The man Hidan glanced over his shoulder to see Sasuke. “Why am I not surprised to see you here Uchiha?”

“Hidan.” Sasuke nearly hissed his name, abandoning his glass of water as he moved closer to where they stood. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

“Well, I caught on that your brother betrayed us so I’m here to collect our prize before it’s too late.” Hidan thrust a finger in Naruto’s direction. “I’m also a sadist so I wanted to cut some people up pretty bad while I was here…”

“Which is why we are running late.” Hidan’s companion sounded increasingly irritated, his hands flexing around his massive forearms as if he couldn’t stand the wait.

“Shut it Kakuzu, I’m gettin’ to it okay?” Hidan snapped back.

“It’s too late for that.” Sasuke raised his pistol even with Hidan’s face. “Even if I’m still in the Akatsuki, I never liked you.”

Hidan’s wicked smile made Naruto’s blood run cold.

“The feeling’s mutual.”

 

Without a second passing, Hidan seemingly materialized in front of Sasuke, knocking the gun from his grip with a swift arm. Sasuke managed to deflect the two punches that were thrown his way at lightning speed, but a brute kick knocked him to the floor before Hidan hooked an arm around Sasuke’s neck.

Before Naruto could even think of running to help him, the larger man collided into him like a freight train of pure force, smashing him into the wall hard enough for his brain to rattle in his skull and leave his vision dancing as he collapsed to the floor. Clutching his stomach, Naruto dry-heaved over the dirty carpet as he tried to conjure even the smallest breath into his body and ease the ringing in his ears. 

There was no way a human could move that fast. And for a man that size, Naruto should’ve seen him coming long before he made contact. It was hard to believe a single blow could leave him hunched over himself, without a doubt a rib or two broken, powerless to even defend himself against the first move.

A sharp blow to his back left him screaming in pain, his spine aching in protest as it barely resisted being split in half. 

“Naruto!” he barely heard Sasuke scream his name, and even Sasuke’s voice was cut short as Hidan started dealing his set of barrages on him.

“Don’t think you got out of your beat-down either Uchiha!” Hidan landed a hard punch in Sasuke’s stomach before hitting his face, mercilessly switching hands so Sasuke couldn’t defend himself in time. “I’ve always dreamt about beating you down!”

 

_No way._

There was no way Naruto could just sit here and watch Sasuke get beaten to death in front of him. There was no way someone like him could prove to be so powerless during the time that meant the most! He needed a diversion. He needed something. Yet he could barely lift his head off the ground without the overwhelming dizziness taking over. Any sloppy move would make this guy snap his back like it was nothing.

“I always think back to that broken look on your little face when you two came home!” Hidan licked the blood off his knuckles and let out a disgustingly pleased groan. “Coming home to both your parents slaughtered in cold blood, that’s what I live for!! I had so much fun listening to them beg for mercy as I ripped them apart, Sasuke. If I could I’d do it all over again just for thrill…” Hidan shuddered at the thought, his arm returning to Sasuke’s throat and shutting off his air flow. Sasuke’s look of pure rage died down as he fought against Hidan’s hold, desperate for another breath.

This was bad. It clearly looked like Hidan was out to kill Sasuke without remorse now that he knew they were traitors to the Akatsuki.

“…Why…?”

 

Hidan’s grip slacked as he looked at Naruto in surprise. Sasuke took advantage of the opening, coughing as he drew in several much-needed breaths.

Naruto swallowed the blood accumulating in his mouth before he tried again.

“…Why did you…do it?”

Hidan rolled his eyes to the ceiling, cocked his head to the side, and looked at Kakuzu.

“Obviously I did it for personal reasons, ridding evil and sacrifice are part of my religion, you see. Kakuzu, why’d you take on the mission?”

The pressure on Naruto’s back slightly lightened.

“I did it for the money.” Kakuzu responded plainly. “Whether it’s clean or dirty, I don’t turn down a job that’s worth my while. That’s all.”

Kakuzu’s response made Hidan break into laughter. He wheezed against Sasuke before wiping a stray tear from his eye with his free hand.

“Look I know the guy is a trip, but he’s got a point here. Money makes the world go round, and sometimes someone’s gotta die to make a good buck yeah? Them government people…and the Uchihas for that matter, especially the Uchihas…they were at the top of the food chain yeah? How do you think they got that much power? You think it came out of their ass and appeared out of nowhere? No it came from _money_. And those fuckers had a lot of it.

So we came in and took it. To make it even better we took their pride and joy heirs to the thrones! In my opinion we should’ve killed them there, cuz now the ungrateful bastards pointing a gun at the very organization that raised him. Go figure. It’s a pity though, the mother was really something to look at, but Kakazu wouldn’t let me keep her-”

  

“Hidan.” Kakuzu interrupted.

“What?”

“Shut up.”

“Man fuck you! I’m still bitter about it!”

Naruto noted that Hidan really loved to run his mouth. They guy seemed more than happy to spill his secrets, probably since he expected to kill Naruto and Sasuke here and now to dispose of the evidence. He sure wasn’t taking note of the anger building in Sasuke as he spoke; Naruto could imagine Sasuke seeing red after the profound confession Hidan had revealed, and his bloodthirsty, merciless demeanor made Naruto sick to his stomach.

As Hidan and Kakuzu bickered, Sasuke made his move, launching off his knees to head-butt Hidan in the face in an attempt to get away. Unfortunately, his position held him at a disadvantage, allowing Hidan to kick him back into place with little to no effort.

“Oh will you look at that, guess I made him mad.” Hidan chuckled as he traced a vein in Sasuke’s neck. “Don’t worry I didn’t do anything to your mother…except kill her. Yeah, that was me.”

Naruto gasped as his neck was fiercely yanked back, almost to the point of breaking. The guy was too strong for his own good!

Kakuzu adjusted his grip in Naruto’s hair and pulled out a long blade.

“Let’s finish this Hidan.”

Hidan’s eyes widened at the sight of the blade. However, his response seemed to be more in excitement than fear. “Whoa, whoa…he said he wanted the kid _alive_ you idiot, can you hear?”

“He’s worth more bounty if he’s dead. Pain doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

“Money, money, money…it’s always money with you!” Hidan snapped back. “He has information! You can’t talk if you’re dead!”

Kakuzu brought the knife to Naruto’s throat, a sharp pinprick against his jugular made him freeze in horror.

“Naruto!” Sasuke fought against Hidan’s restraints, but the man barely paid any attention to him. 

“Whether they get any information is not my concern.”

Hidan clapped a hand over Sasuke’s mouth to mute his yelling. “You’re a selfish asshole, you know that?”

“And? Are you one to talk?”

Naruto fought the urge to swallow when the point dug in deeper; he could feel a thin line of blood run down his throat.

 

Was this really it for him? Murdered for bounty in the heart of Akatsuki territory, all for a futile rescue mission he had selfishly signed up for? He should’ve seen it coming. 

Hidan clicked his tongue, directing his attention back to Sasuke’s struggling.

“Naruto, Naruto, oh my poor Naruto!” Hidan imitated him, pulling on his cheek as if he were a child. His movements abruptly stopped and he turned to look at Naruto in confusion. “….wait, Naruto? I thought this kid’s name was Menma–”

With a sharp gunshot, a small hole appeared on Hidan’s forehead, the force sent him falling away from Sasuke and onto the floor with a heavy thud. In the same moment, another bullet tore through Kakuzu, knocking him away from Naruto but not yet off his feet.

Itachi stepped into the room, firing several more shots into Kakuzu’s body until he too fell to the floor.

Naruto sucked in a desperate breath and dropped his head to the floor as he tried to calm the tremors shaking through his body. He had only been seconds from death, and as common as those scenarios were in his field of work, this was the most terrified he’d ever been.

“Looks like I made it in time.” Itachi sighed in relief before he walked over to examine Hidan’s body. “These two never move according to plans, but I should’ve expected them to show up.” He threw Naruto an apologetic smile. “I’m glad you’re okay Naruto.”

_You should be checking on your brother._

At least, that was what Naruto wanted to say, but he couldn’t find his voice. He slowly lifted his head to see Sasuke, who remained on the floor, staring at Hidan’s corpse with an unreadable expression.

“Our rendezvous point is in the lobby. Our business is done here.” Itachi finally turned to look at Sasuke and pointed to the weapons behind them. “Leave those, we have no need for them anymore.”

“Pain…” Sasuke slowly lifted his head to meet Itachi’s stare. “Where is he?”

Itachi blinked back.

“I thought you knew that he left.”

“He didn’t leave.”

Itachi’s gaze hardened. “He isn’t here anymore, Sasuke.”

“You’re a fucking liar, Itachi.”

The tension between the two seemed thicker than ever, but even though Naruto expected a fight to break out, Itachi turned away and approached the broken glass.

“I will retrieve your partner, and I trust that you two will meet us downstairs.” With that, Itachi stepped out on the fire escape, footsteps crunching on glass as he went to find Kiba.

 

Naruto slowly climbed to his feet, wincing at the sharp spikes of pain in his ribcage and checked himself for any other damage. Aside from bruising and a broken rib, he didn’t seem to be too messed up.

“Let’s go Sasuke.” Naruto offered him a hand, but Sasuke slapped it aside before climbing to his feet on his own.

“I’m not going with you. I’m going to find _him_.” Sasuke’s voice was rough, and he avoided Naruto’s gaze as he pushed past him and out the door. 

Naruto felt the panic rise in him again as Sasuke stepped out of the apartment.

“Oi, Sasuke wait!”

As soon as Naruto called after him, a large explosion shook the entire frame of the building, knocking Naruto into the wall as he tried to steady himself. It seemed like it was too late; the bombs they had been trying to disarm were starting to go off anyway. Smoke filtered up the stairs and through the open windows as smaller explosions echoed outside.

Sasuke ignored him as he approached the large set of double doors at the end of the hall, his gun drawn and ready as he kicked down the doors, stormed inside, and froze in place with a look of pure horror.

Naruto pushed his way in behind him, nearly bumping into Sasuke before he took in the sight that made Sasuke stop in his tracks. 

Pain was there, and he sat at the massive desk in the center of the room slumped in his chair with a similar execution-style gunshot wound between his eyes. His blood left the wall behind him splattered and gory, and from the look of it he had been dead for quite some time.

“Impossible…” Sasuke whispered as he backed away, his gun slipped from his grip and clattered to the floor. “How did…who…?”

Naruto frowned as he reconsidered Itachi’s warning. It seemed like he was trying to spare his brother one last unsightly scene, but even that was futile in the end.

 

Another shaking blow tore through the building, the aftershock knocked books off the shelves and pictures off the walls around them. Naruto placed a hesitant hand on Sasuke’s back to guide him to the door.

“Let’s get out of here, okay?”

Sasuke remained silent, but allowed Naruto to push him back towards the double doors without any resistance. However, once they reached the threshold, Sasuke took Naruto by surprise by whipping around and landing a harsh blow to the side of his face. The force was enough to knock Naruto off balance, which Sasuke used to pin him down on the floor. Naruto hastily tried to block the consecutive full-force punches Sasuke beat him with, one after another. After a few hits, Naruto gave up on trying to block, letting his arms flop to his sides as he took every hit Sasuke gave him with only a tired look. He was tired of fighting, tired of trying to defend himself…and he felt like this was a beating he actually deserved.

When Naruto stopped trying to defend himself, Sasuke let out a growl of annoyance before pulling a blade from his back pocket. As his hands came down to plunge the blade into Naruto’s chest, Naruto’s hands shot up to push against it, shaking as the blade came closer and closer to his shirt. Sasuke put his full weight into the handle, fighting against Naruto’s resistance until the blade pushed against Naruto’s sternum. By then his grip started to shake, and his power slowly sapped away until Naruto didn’t have to fight against him anymore.

 

“Why…” Sasuke’s voice came out as a pained sob. “What is it with you!? Why can’t I kill you?” He tossed the blade away from them and pressed a fist against his head. “Why, after everything, do I still care about you?!”

His tears dripped and rolled across Naruto’s face as he hung over him. Through the swelling in his eyes, he couldn’t make out Sasuke’s expression that well, but he figured it wasn’t that far from his imagination.

“Because somewhere in your heart you still love me?” Naruto offered.

“I hate you!” Sasuke lifted Naruto up by his shirt and gave him a hard shake before his grip loosened again. “I hate you so much, but…you were the first person to treat me like a fucking human being!” he broke into a sob as he lowered Naruto back to the floor. “You were the first person to care about me…the first person I could actually talk to…”

Naruto slowly lifted a hand to brush the hair out of Sasuke’s face, catching a tear between his fingers.

“You were the same for me too.” He offered Sasuke the best smile he could in his condition. “I enjoyed every moment I spent with you.”

“What am I to you?”

Naruto felt his smile fade. “What are you? You’re a close friend–”

“That’s bullshit and you know it.” Sasuke leaned back to look him properly in the eyes. “For once, tell me the truth Naruto.”

Naruto dropped his hand and stared back. Sasuke seemed to have a newborn resolve set in place, and it didn’t look like it was anything Naruto could back down from.

He decided to tell the truth. No matter where it led him, at least he would know he tried.

“I love you.”

A new set of tears streamed down Sasuke’s face. He dipped his head as he broke into another small sob and hesitantly cupped Naruto’s face in his hand.

“I don’t have anything left to give you.” Sasuke whispered. “In the end, all I do is hurt you…why would you want to be with someone like me?”

“I already told you.” Naruto let out a tired sigh. “You don’t need one reason to love somebody. Just…let me…” he fought to keep stay conscious despite the fog swimming through his head. He could easily have a concussion with the amount of beat downs he’d received in such a short amount of time.

 

Sasuke seemed to get it. He pulled Naruto to his feet, slung his arm around him and nearly carried Naruto downstairs to regroup with the other members. As they exited the smoky building, Kiba rushed towards them, a new set of scratches and cuts across his face from the glass and a murderous look in his eye.

“Sasuke you bastard, what did you do?!” Kiba’s attack was cut short when Naruto held up a hand.

“It’s okay Kiba, it’s over.” Naruto gave him an assuring nod that only made Kiba throw Sasuke a dirty glare as they passed by him.

Squad members were beginning to abandon the scene; the explosives set seemed to show no signs of stopping, and the other groups were requesting backup in the city. Any further investigation and manpower was pointless at the ruined base, and Kakashi called the mission as a success.

They had managed to get the Uchiha brothers in custody and avoided any severe damage to the squad’s numbers. Out in the fresh air, Naruto felt like he could finally breathe again, but it also made the cuts on his body start to hurt even more now that they were starting to heal. He knew he was going to be sore in the morning. Not only that, but he would probably be hideous…if not worse than he looked now.

As they moved towards one of the squad cars, a brief flash of movement caught Naruto’s eye. A figure staggered out of the front door of the apartment complex, only to stop at the entrance.

 

 Again, it felt like Naruto’s reaction time was moving in slow motion; he heard Kakashi shout ‘cover’, he saw members reach for their guns while some dropped to the ground, and he watched Sasuke side-step in front of him just before a piercing gunshot rang through the air immediately followed by another that landed the unknown man onto his back. Through the chaos of shouts and scuffling, Naruto felt Sasuke fall against him, and the hand that clutched the boy to stop him from falling came away with blood.

“…Sasuke?” Naruto turned him around to see the spreading blood on his side. “Oi, Sasuke are you okay?!” 

Naruto’s shouts brought Itachi and Kakashi running to their aide.

“Call Anko now! She’s on standby with the ambulance a block away, call her now!!” Kakashi shouted orders to whoever was listening, his attention moving to Sasuke as he tore open his shirt and assessed the wound.

Every nerve in Naruto’s body had gone numb. Whatever pain he had felt a minute ago was replaced by a growing ache of agony in his chest as he sank to the ground with Sasuke in his arms.

“Why…why would you jump in front of a bullet for me?!” Naruto found himself yelling at him, his tears finally breaking the surface.

“Why…?” Sasuke let out a quiet laugh. “I don’t know why…my body just moved on its own…”

 

The approaching sound of sirens drowned out the rest of Sasuke’s voice, and Naruto could only watch in pain as Sasuke’s eyes slowly blinked shut.

 

* * *

 

 

 

The sound of constant beeping and clicking woke Sasuke up from his slumber. He cracked an eye open, only to shut it again when he found his vision reeling. Little by little, he forced his eyes open and tried to take in the view around him.

Bare walls. Cat picture frame. A clock that read nine-thirty. Morning? Evening? He didn’t know.

Window with the blinds closed. Hospital posters reminding the importance of hand washing.

_Hospital, huh?_

It looked like being shot wasn’t a dream after all.

He remembered everything up until the moment he saw the flashing lights of the squad cars. After that it was fragments. He knew he had been shot, but by who? He had stepped in front of Naruto like some sort of make-shift shield without a second thought coursing through his body…was that it? Clearly, he didn’t die, which would have made it easier on everyone, and once he looked down, a head of blonde hair proved that his strange affair wasn’t over.

Naruto seemed to be fast asleep, his head resting on the edge of Sasuke’s hospital bed. Sasuke didn’t doubt that he’d been here for a while, the idiot usually stayed by his side as much as he could; even so, Sasuke wondered how long he had been unconscious. He barely noticed the pain in his side, but that could easily have been from the medication fed to him via IV.

Dragging his attention from the tubes in his body, he ran his fingers through Naruto’s hair, enjoying the soft texture that reminded him of the days when things were so much simpler. When he was just wandering casinos looking for sex, unaware of how complicated things actually were. When Naruto was just another man to fall into his trap, not someone he’d actually grow to care for quite more than he’d care to admit.

Naruto snapped awake at the feeling of fingers grazing his scalp, and his eyes met Sasuke’s in a panic.

“Thank goodness…” Naruto let out a heavy sigh and took Sasuke’s hand.

Sasuke didn’t reply. He held Naruto’s gaze before his attention was won by the television set on the wall. He hadn’t noticed the news channel on before, but he recognized his brother’s appearance on the screen with the headline “Underground Group Member Put into Government Custody” at the bottom. It was a bold move to expose Itachi to the public like that, but it appeared Konoha had its reasons.

“Don’t worry, it’s protective custody.” Naruto mistook Sasuke’s attention as concern and moved to console him. “The task force plans on keeping the two of you safe until the Akatsuki is disbanded.”

Sasuke glanced back at Naruto and narrowed his eyes.

“What about you?”

“Of course I’ll protect you, but I’m no longer part of the force. I resigned. Respectively.”

Sasuke blinked. “What does that mean?”

“Doesn’t matter. I wanted to start over with you.” Naruto kept a strong hold of Sasuke’s hand, his own fingers running across the pale knuckles as he spoke. “Move in together, have an honest and normal life together…at least if that’s what you’re interested in.”

Sasuke watched Naruto’s action in slight disbelief. He had thought Naruto lived and breathed for Konoha’s task force, but it seemed the blonde had other interests in mind. As much as he wanted to sit down and organize his life until it made sense, Sasuke still felt like he had unsettled business. Until someone paid for his parents’ murder, there wasn’t any way he could sit still, but…

Naruto’s proposition was too preferable to turn down.

 

“I guess since I’ve tolerated you this long…” Sasuke sighed.

“Tolerated me, huh…” Naruto dropped his head in dismay. “I thought somewhere in your heart you cared for me, at least a little.”

Sasuke shrugged, jokingly. “Well the sex is good so I can’t complain.”

“ _Sasuke…_ ”

Naruto’s tortured reaction brought a smile to his face, but it was quickly erased once the Akatsuki member’s faces appeared on the TV screen. From the inner workings of that group, Sasuke knew there was only one person who could be responsible and he wasn’t on that suspect list. There was a reason why he hid behind that mask, and if no one else would follow him, Sasuke would reveal his tracks. A simple, docile life was still far from his reach, but he still held strong emotions for Naruto in ways he still couldn’t understand.

No matter what path he chose, Sasuke knew he’d find his answers soon.

As he tightened his grip on Naruto’s hand, Sasuke felt a grin stretch across his face, and he didn’t care if Naruto saw it. 

Just wait, Tobi.

Or should he say, Obito Uchiha…

 

His infamous half-brother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah wow guys I am so sorry for the delay in getting up this last chapter, I know a lot of you left comments asking for it. Let’s just say that I have been on and off a ship for the past 6 weeks with Wi-Fi only when we get on land (study abroad let’s go) and editing this wasn’t my main priority, so I have just now recently gotten to this. I’ll be back home in a few days so you can expect more regular updates for our other fics. Hope you guys enjoyed this one, I certainly did! As always, thank you all so much for reading and please leave comments, we’d love to hear what you think!   
> ^^^  
> I apologize for both the wait and the terrible amount of cringe-worthy cliche anime moments I threw in there. Also no, this isn't an April Fool's prank (or is it? haha), it's really the last chapter! I was thinking about a Part 2, but I dunno. What do y'all think? I have other short NaruSasu ideas coming up soon so I hope you look forward to those also! As always thank you for the comments and support, it really makes our day! <3

**Author's Note:**

> Wooo alright fanfiction #4 here we go! (okay sort of 5 if you count our first one we gave up on but) This one will be fairly short, about 4 or 5 chapters only, so stay tuned! To our other readers-we are currently working on the epilogue for ‘I think You’re My Best Friend’ and are brainstorming for ‘Wings’. Updates may still be as infrequent as they have been though, apologies in advance! I was in Japan this summer, whatsinthebasement is going to Japan for study abroad in the fall, and then I’ll abroad in the spring. We will do our best to update these when we can, but for now I hope you all enjoyed chapter 1 of this new fic!  
> ^^^  
> I have returned to the Naruto fandom! I'm so sorry to those waiting for our other fics, I'm working on them I promise! I just wanted to get this new fic out before I leave to see how it goes. It was originally a draft I planned on leaving on the back-burner, but I thought it would be pretty fun to upload, so here you go! Please let me know your thoughts!


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